Chapter 15


Makoto sighed, looking at the multiple college options spread out in front of him.

It was down to the wire, and he had to decide on a university by the end of the next week and a half. Makoto had gotten accepted to all of his desired schools and passed the entrance exams by the skin of his teeth, making himself, his parents, and even Seijuurou more than happy, but he still couldn't choose just one to attend. Every single one of them sounded like the best option, but Makoto knew that one was definitely better than the others. There were several scholarships offered from almost all of them, some even offering a swimming scholarship with seeing that he was on a swim team and the team captain, but the most important thing to Makoto was that he wanted the best classes and the one university that would further his career as a teacher.

Green eyes wandered from the pamphlets and research to his phone resting under a Tokyo brochure, and his heart ached. Makoto wanted nothing more to call Seijuuou, to ramble on about how he was feeling because he was stressing out about deciding and that graduation was around the corner and he felt like he was going to be sick from all this pressure and things that had to be done, and he knew that Seijuurou would be able to lift his spirits easily, just like always. But the redhead had his hands full lately with doing extra projects for his classes to get a leg ahead, and when he was able to talk it wasn't as long as Makoto had hoped to talk for, or Seijuurou, because the redhead had to multitask while doing so. Seijuurou tried to at least text Makoto whenever he could, cute little messages that made Makoto smile and forget about his worries for awhile that were typically received in the morning or really late in the evening, and Seijuurou promised that he would call Makoto when he wasn't constantly busy. And it didn't help that finals were only days away, and between having to decide and study for his final exams at Iwatobi, the constant feeling of being sick was like a rock in Makoto's stomach.

Stress didn't mix well with Makoto. Especially stress that had to deal with having to decide out of multiple options that held his future. Ever since he was young, Makoto knew that he wanted to be a teacher. There was no questioning it, and the brunette had been passionate about his career decision since then. He had only wished that picking the school to help him reach his goal was as easy as middle school Makoto Tachibana shouting out "I want to be a teacher!" as soon as he had that epiphany during a class break.

He had talked to Haruka and Rin, meeting up at a small cafe to discuss the future and to take a break from their almost-constant studying. His two close friends seemed much more relaxed than he did once the topic of university was brought up after discussing the possibilities of the after-graduation party to also celebrate their university decisions, and it shocked Makoto that they had chosen so quickly. Rin not so much, but Haruka definitely had taken Makoto and Rin for surprise when he said that he had decided weeks ago.

"Swimming for Tokyo, huh?" Makoto stirred his drink with his straw, the ice clinking against the sides of the glass. "So we can expect to see you in the Olympics soon?"

"That's the plan. Eventually I'll find something I'm good at or like when I take random classes, it's fine." Rin waved his hand. "I know, it's not completely thought out, but at least it's something? And I might decide to go abroad somewhere, too. People don't know what they really want to do right away and change a lot. And then there's people like you, Mako, who know and aim for that without any distractions in the way."

Makoto turned to Haruka. "And you're going to a place on the coast for marine biology and art?"

Haruka simply shrugged. "Yeah. I know I looked into a lot of places near the coastline and it may not be as big as Tokyo, but when I sent in some of my things one was more than impressed, asked questions, and said that I was perfect for the school and I agreed to go once I passed the exam."

The brunette sunk back in his seat, frown fixed on his face. "But that means we'll all be separated, too..."

"Oh it won't be that bad, Mako. It's not like the internet or cell phones don't exist, or hell, even sending letters. But I'm not so sure about Haru here, he's the one we should be worried about." Rin teased the older swimmer, nudging his side. "But graduation's in a week for Samezuka, and then for you guys it's a few days after?"

"Two days, yeah. It's scary how it's so close..."

"And we still have plans to come see you that day, right?"

"Definitely. And same goes for you two, I'll come right down."

"You can come to the party that the swim club is having, of course. I'll have to ask Nagisa again and make sure that it actually will be after graduation that night and we have permission to be around the pool." Makoto smiled at Rin. "But be warned, he already said that there's gonna be crying."

Rin rolled his eyes. "I know, my sister mentioned something about it to me. She said that it's going to be a big thing, because I'll be leaving and so will you two and she's questioning the productivity of the club with Nagisa and Rei in charge of the new guys."

The trio gave a collected sigh, the weight on all of their shoulders increasing as the thought of the next life step was so close and it seemed like yesterday they were only in their first year of high school.

"...Before we all leave, we need to have one last swim. Together, alright?"

Makoto and Rin turned to Haruka, who was looking down at the table. He lifted his head after a moment, blue eyes watering as he tried to smile at his closest friends. They knew that Haruka was being sincere, and that even if he didn't say it, even though that they still had time together he was dreading the day that they'll be miles apart and it'll take time to get used to the unfamiliarity of it all.

"Haru, of course."

"Could we make it a monthly thing?"

"Depends on our schedules." Rin took a drink from his glass. "But I suppose we could give it a try."

"Sounds perfect to me." Makoto smiled, looking at his two closest friends. "I couldn't imagine anything better than that."


Makoto sat on the stone steps to Haruka's home, mindlessly petting Tama and the other stray cats that gathered around. Even after talking about his choices to Haruka and Rin, he still hadn't thought about what school to choose. No matter who he asked, it being his friends or family, they all said the same thing.

"Pick the one that you think is right."

He sighed, picking Tama up and put her in his lap, scratching under her chin. Makoto wished things were easier, that there wouldn't have to be schools better than others, and that it could all be picked for him. He thought of Rin, being successful in Tokyo, and Haruka doing two things that he enjoyed near the ocean, and where did that leave himself? Makoto knew that he wanted to become a teacher, to help others and further his own learning and live a happy life. And then there was Seijuurou, who hadn't said anything detailed on the matter whatsoever because he was busy and didn't want to bring it up to burden the redhead with another thing to think about even though it was Makoto's problem.

Should I stay close to home, or go big?

Maybe I should just choose whichever one is offering more money so I won't have to worry about anything too extra.

Pick a random one, go with the adventure!

This is exactly why I don't like having to make decisions, important or otherwise.

Taking a year off wouldn't be too bad...

"Tama, what should I do?" He bit his lip, curling her tail around his finger. "I just feel so...lost and that I could pick the wrong place. Even if I do pick right I probably won't know until halfway through so there's all that time wasted with me freaking out because I think I chose wrong..." Makoto flinched slightly when he felt a buzz in his pocket, quickly setting Tama back down beside him to retrieve his ringing phone from his pocket and his heart leaped in his throat when he saw who was calling. Speak of the devil...

"Sei?" Makoto answered, trying to get his heart to calm down. "You're not busy?"

"Nope, finished the last with what I had to do a bit ago and just dropped it off. And like I said, I would call you because good god hearing your voice is amazing right now." Seijuurou sighed, and it made the brunette smile. "Sorry that it happened, one thing turned into another and I was roped into doing more stuff."

"It's fine, really. If it's helping you with your classes, then it's no problem."

"...Mako, is everything okay? You sound like something's wrong."

Makoto sighed, standing to head back to his home. "Well..."

"Well?"

"I don't know what to choose."

"...Choose what?"

"Rin and Haru have already decided, and I have to choose between several potential places and I have no idea which one that I really want to go to." Makoto slipped through the front door while still having his phone pressed to his ear, closing the door behind him while kicking off his shoes. "And it's been...stressful because I have to decide soon, before graduation is over at least so I at least know where I'm headed and there's three days until finals, and it...sucks."

"Wait, are you talking about schools, Mako?"

"...Did I not mention that?"

Seijuurou laughed. "No, not really."

"See?" Makoto shut his bedroom door, falling back on his bed. "Stressful."

"Well you know I can't decide for you, sweetheart. That'd be wrong. But you need to just calm down and take a breather. All of this is starting to mess with your head and you might go insane at this rate. You do have the multiple cats thing down already..."

The brunette whined. "But that would make things so much easier if someone chose for me while I freak out some more about passing these tests."

Seijuurou paused, holding back a yawn. "You said you wanted to be a teacher, yeah? And I assume that you passed the exams to a lot of great schools."

"I did, yes. But all of them have something different and different scholarship ranges and classes and everything else and it's just too much for me to actually be able to decide correctly, you know?" Makoto pressed his empty hand on his forehead. "Everyone says to just pick the one I think is right, but I don't know which one is right and that makes it ten times harder."

"Mako, you know that which one you do choose you'll be fantastic either way. It's just choices and nerves and it's a big step. And it's scary, and I know that I haven't been around lately because of my own college business, but I'm here now and I'm here to listen." Makoto could tell that Seijuurou was smiling, even through the phone. "I love you, and I want to see you succeed. You just have to narrow them all down even further before making that final choice."

"Sei..." Makoto laughed, Seijuurou's voice helping his stress die down slightly. "You're perfect."

"I'm sleepy, that's what I am." Seijuurou let out a playful scoff. "You should just come to school with me, I mean, you've already been here tons of times and know where almost everything is."

"But I've been to other campuses, too."

"Not as much as here, babe."

"You did say that they had a teaching program, right...?"

"Yeah. It's not as recognized as other schools are, but I hear it's just as good."

Makoto rolled over, looking over at his desk that still had every bit of university information on it. "As much as I want to keep talking about this, you sound like you're going to fall asleep any minute. Go to sleep, okay? You deserve it. We can talk later."

"But-" Another yawn from Seijuurou. "I wanna talk to my MakoMako..."

"No buts. You really need to catch up on your rest."

"But I wanna catch up on what's been going on with you, too. Like how you're feeling aside from the stress and go on a double date with RinRin and AiAi, and talk about other things like Tama and the stars and how amazing space must look like."

"Hate to break it to you darling but you're at that extremely tired stage where you're going to pass out at any minute. Now go to sleep before I tell Aikawa to hide your phone, I love you."

"Alright, alright...love you too, Mako, whose green eyes shine like freshly cut grass and green tea. Text me in the morning and I can help you study whenever you want, tomorrow."

He ended the call, sighing when he placed his phone to his side. With a groan he got up from his bed, sluggishly going back to his desk to skim through the pamphlets and brochures among his piled textbooks one more time and have a decision as soon as possible, as he decided with determination. Makoto sat there, making neat piles of his potential future schools, laying them all out so he could see them beside each other in hopes that it would make the deciding easier. He frowned, swearing in his mind that something was missing, that he was forgetting one important thing, and his heart dropped to his stomach realizing what that thing was.

There wasn't anything from Kyoto. Even though he thought that he had picked something up the last time he was there, his desk was Kyoto-free.

"Oh my god-" Makoto panicked, checking his desk drawers and going through all of his papers one more time to make sure that he didn't misplace anything. He sat back in his seat, eyes wide at his mistake. Seijuurou mentioned that he should apply once before during the middle of the year because 'who knows', and the thought of being around Seijuurou almost constantly made his heart swell, but he didn't take the entrance exam to the school. "Oh my god."

And then he thought that there could still be a sliver of hope for his carelessness.

"An all-nighter wouldn't hurt...would it?" Makoto's fingers were quickly typing and scrolling through the Kyoto university's website, relieved that he found that they had online exams. "Just taking a test that could determine my future, just like all the others, and then I'll study for a half hour before bed. Not too hard..."


Three days later, when Makoto had went to Haruka's to head to one of their final high school days, Haruka noticed the big change in Makoto's behavior.

It was the day of finals, something that every third year was dreading but in Makoto's case the brunette was...constantly smiling, and when he spoke he sounded like a daydreaming Nagisa when thinking about Rei. Haruka knew that with Seijuurou being busy, they haven't seen each other much less talk all that much, and that his best friend was still most likely fretting about college and about passing. So maybe, just maybe, Makoto had finally decided and it calmed him down?

"Uh...everything okay?" Haruka raised an eyebrow as he flipped his mackerel, seeing Makoto sway back and forth as he leaned against the counter. "Your mood has definitely improved from a few days ago, what happened? Finally talk to Seijuurou?"

Makoto just hummed, smile not leaving his face. "I did, he's finally done with being busy with projects."

"And?"

"And I finally decided." Makoto smoothed out his slacks.

"On a university?"

He nodded, and Haruka could have sworn that Makoto was almost glowing. "I want to tell you, all of you, together. On graduation at the party. Not even my parents or Seijuurou know."

And Haruka left it at that, only smiling back at his best friend and knowing exactly what school Makoto had chosen.

"Okay." Haruka grabbed a plate from the counter that had two pieces of toast on it, handing it to Makoto. "Here, for breakfast. It's going to be a long day, Makoto."


Author's note: to put this out here I have no friggin' clue how Japan's school system works or anything so I really friggin' apologize if you do know and want to be all 'HEY UH YOU'RE...KINDA WRONG'. But yeah, definitely had some issues with this and the final chapter, and totally thought it was longer than this. Oops =.=;

again, sorry that this chapter really blows ;-;