Makoto dropped the pencil with a sigh. Rubbing his eyes, he leaned back into his chair and stared at the ceiling. It was almost time for the game with Leon, but he still hadn't finished his math homework. He glanced at the clock one more time. 4:37. Leon would be picking him up around a quarter to five, so he didn't really have anymore time to waste. Giving him math book once last petulant glare, he folded it up and placed it in his backpack. He'd get in more trouble forgetting the whole thing than not quite finishing it. Thinking he'd come back later tonight and finish it off was, from experience, nothing but wishful thinking.

Rummaging through the tangled mess that passed as a closet, he eventually went with a plain white shirt and a pair of dark jeans. Sparing a glance through the window, he pulled out a soft green hoodie as an afterthought, shrugging it on. A wallet shoved in his back pocket, and a new (cheap, temporary) phone in hand, he almost walked past the bathroom before ducking in, and giving himself a quick spray of deodorant. It probably wouldn't much difference in the massive crowd of sweating sports fans, he thought. But there's no reason not to give it a shot. A glance in the mirror revealed that one part of his hair that still wouldn't stay down. He'd once tried gelling it in sixth grade, but even Extra-hold Mowhawk Extreme ™ apparently couldn't keep the damn thing down. His outfit was plain, but clean. He looked average. No surprise there. Giving himself a quick nod and smile in the mirror (that looked a bit too sad for his liking) he finally bounced down the stairs, and stepped into the kitchen. True to form, his mum was already bustling, prepping for dinner.

"Hey mum," he greeted.

"Hello darling," she responded distractedly. "That friend of yours, Leon, is coming to pick you up soon, right?"

"Uh huh. In about…" he checked his phone. "Two minutes?"

"I'm glad, you know." She turned, and gave a soft smile. "You've been a little down the last couple days. It'll be good for you to get out the house, and have some fun."

"Yeah. I think so too," he smiled back.

"Now remember!" she continued. A smirk crossed her face and Makoto braced. "No alcohol, no drugs, home before 10, it's still a school night mister, let me remind you, and you can go and kiss as may boys or girls or whatever as you want, but nothing more than that, okay?"

"Mum!" he choked out, mortified. "Don't say things like that! Who do you think I am anyway?" He scoffed inwardly at the thought of becoming some sort of truant like Mondo and almost choked again at the thought of himself with a giant yellow pompadour.

"I think you're my perfect little boy," she teased softly. She stepped closer, and ran her head through her son's hair and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. "And I'm your mother. No matter how old we both get, I'm always allowed to worry. Now, I think I can hear your friend outside. Don't want to keep him waiting, do you?"

"Thanks mum." Makoto hesitated for a moment, before giving her a quick peck on the cheek and running out the door. "I'll keep my phone on!" he added.

True to her word, a black SUV idled outside on the suburban street. Tinted windows rolled down to reveal Leon dressed in a black jacket with a hood, and a pair of expensive looking sunglasses.

"What'cha waiting for?" he grinned. "Hop on in!"

Makoto flung open the door with a similar grin, and settled in the backseat next to the baseball star. "Are you gonna wear that hood the entire time?" he asked, shooting his friend a look.

"If I don't I'm gonna be swarmed. We won't even be able to enjoy the game!" he complained back.

"I thought you loved attention?"

"Yeah, when it's chicks," Leon huffed. "Most baseball fans are sweaty, middle aged men. Besides," he added. "Today's about me and you, hanging out as bros. I don't want to ruin your night."

"Thanks," Makoto replied softly. He fidgeted for a moment, and Leon watched him wring his hands silently. "Hey Leon?" he asked. "This whole thing about taking me to the game…does it have anything to do with how I broke up with Junko? Not that I doubt we're friends, it's just this was, uh, pretty sudden."

"So you DID break up?!" Leon blurted.

"Ah, um, yeah. I mean kinda? Neither of us really said anything, but I think it's clear. Did I not, um, say anything about that?"

"No, you didn't! You just came in one day looking like someone stepped on your puppy and started glaring at random pieces of wood!"

Makoto flinched. Rubbing the back of his neck, he laughed nervously. "Whoops. Guess I was being a little selfish, huh?"

Leon blinked in surprise, and let out a frustrated groan. "No, dude. That's not it. You just broke up. With a supermodel, none the less. You're allowed to be upset!" Makoto looked surprised, and somewhat embarrassed.

"Makoto," Leon continued. "Dude, we were worried about you."

"Worried?" the word almost felt foreign as it rolled off Makoto's tongue. "Wait, we?"

"Yeah dude! The whole class is concerned. Even icy prick himself and the borderline sociopaths are worried about your dip in mood. Dude, you gotta tell me, what happened? Else I can't guarantee that there won't be a witch hunt in the works."

"What?" he gasped. "No no no don't do that!" he panicked, hands waving. "I was the one who broke up with her anyway," he admitted.

"Wait, you broke up with her? I mean, I get it, she was pretty crazy, but you two seemed to balance surprisingly well. She calmed down a hell of a lot when she was with you, and you've seemed, well," his eyebrows furrowed as he frowned. "Not so much as happier, but like, more spontaneous? You tried more things. Remember when you tried you luck gambling with Celestia? Or when you tried training with Sakura? It was actually kind of cool. What did she do to mess it up?"

"Why'd you assume she messed it up?" Makoto mumbled. "I mean, I'm the one who broke up with her."

"Because you're Makoto, dude! You never hurt people on purpose, while Junko, is well, Junko."

"It's just," Makoto started. "I don't get why she asked me out in the first place! She's literally a supermodel, and she's crazy smart and she could have literally anyone! I'm the lucky student! And not lucky like Nagito, either, I'm literally just some guy!" he buried his head in his hands. "I'm completely average, and that's all I will be. Is that why she did it? Did she finally get bored of me? I don't even understand why I'm upset! She never returned my messages, and she was never the romantic type, and she's always off somewhere, doing something…" Makoto began to shake softly.

"Woah dude," Leon cautioned. "Slow down. Did what? Dude, what did she do?"

"I, um," Makoto sniffled. "I haven't really seen Junko for a while. And I guess I kind of suspected something, but I mean, I don't like to doubt people, you know. But um, I couldn't find the storage keys and I realised Gundham's puma might've taken them from earlier…? So I headed over to class 77's classroom and I found her. With um. With Mikan."

Leon's brain short-circuited for a moment. "Pu-? Wait what? With Mikan? Are you saying Junko cheated on you with the school nurse?" Makoto just nodded miserably.

"Shit dude," he exhaled. "That's scummy. And you ended it right there, huh?" Makoto nodded again.

"Well, the good news is that was a major red flag. So good on you," Leon said awkwardly. Makoto snorted.

"Leon, Junko is a living red flag. Everything she does is a red flag. I don't even know if she's able to send anything else," Makoto pointed out, giggling through the tears. "I just," he sighed. "I don't know why I expected anything else," he whispered.

"Dude, no, okay." Leon demanded. "Look, I can be a bit of an asshole sometimes. And shit man, I'm not great at giving advice, especially not on chicks or whatever. But dude, you're not some stone heart macho man, of course you're gonna be emotionally invested. Look, a relationship is, like two things. One, you get all the fun stuff. You know, the hugging and the handholding and the other stuff," he waggled his eyebrows, sending Makoto red, as he choked on his laughter through the tears. "But it's also about like, supporting one another dude. Emotionally and all that. Else you just got a friend with benefits situation, yeah? She asked for a relationship, and you agreed. She broke a promise. It's not on you to be left blaming yourself because you should've seen it coming. Now, we're almost here," he added. "Do you still feel like going? Cause I said we had seats, but I was kinda being coy, and we actually have a private box area, so we can eat and watch the game without everyone staring at us."

"We WHAT?" Makoto choked out. "But what about your outfit!" he cried, pointing at the black jacket.

"I have to get in before we get to the seats, dumbass." He rolled his eyes. "You didn't really think I'd wear this over sized thing the whole time. Now come on!" He opened the door and stepped out, leaving Makoto spluttering behind him. Makoto quickly opened his own door, almost tripping as it opened faster than expected. He stumbled out into the waiting area, and quickly jogged to catch up, following the heavily hooded boy, before jogging to his side.

He sighed happily. "Thanks Leon." He murmured.

Leon went slightly pink "No problem, bro."

Omake (extra):

"So," Leon asked, mouth full. "How'd your family react to your break up? Or to Junko, in general? She's pretty intense."

"I uh, didn't really tell them?" Makoto laughed.

"You didn't tell them you broke up?"

"I kinda didn't tell them I was dating in the first place."

"What? Why?"

"Would you want Junko to personally know your family, personally, so that she could come over, no questions asked, to do whatever she wants?"

Leon was silent.

"Didn't think so." Makoto hummed. "I did try and tell at one point. It's not my fault they didn't believe when I told them I was dating a supermodel. My sister nearly choked when I mentioned it. I wonder why?"

"Let's just watch the game, dude."

I'm not dead. Huzzah. New chapter will be up in a couple of days since I have a backlog. Gonna be a pain in the butt and plug my tumblr again BritishLuxray/ BritishRaptor. First one is where I actually post art I draw, and fandom stuff and normal memes. The second I sometimes do writing prompts. Please yell at me on either, or leave a review.