Chapter Five

Makoto barely knew how he'd got home. He'd managed to complete his shift, ignoring the inquisitive looks from Nagisa and he'd feigned sickness to explain his sweatiness, his nervousness and the general flustered appearance on his face. He was just glad he'd had the sense to input the numbers on his hand into his phone contacts before they rubbed off as he finished up his jobs.

Then he travelled home. Nagisa had, again, looked concerned and worried about Makoto but he shrugged it off, said he just needed sleep and made his way towards the metro station to travel home. He did remember getting on the train, siting on one of the uncomfortable plastic seats as it was so late it was not a problem to secure somewhere to sit. But then he didn't really remember the rest of the journey and now he was laid on his bed, looking up at his ceiling, his work clothes still on.

Usually when he got back from work, Makoto undressed straight away, stripping away the vest and the tie and the smart pants but this time he left it on, only undoing his tie a little as he tried to get over what had happened.

It wasn't that he'd just seen Mr. Tall, Dark and Tattooed again. It was that he was called Sousuke. It was that he'd looked so damn good. It was that he'd sung with such incredible tone, his voice gruff and raw and perfect. It was that he'd touched him. Written those digits on his palm. That it suggested so many things – that Sousuke wasn't just some fantasy guy and maybe he had some interest in Makoto. Maybe Sousuke had even tried to find him. Makoto shook his head – that was ridiculous. But whatever, they'd met again and Makoto was back in the situation he'd been in before. That he had to message the sexy guy and make another move.

"Great, Tachibana," he muttered to himself as he sat up in the bed, "another time he makes me feel all… flustered."

As they'd barely met not counting the brief moment on the train and in the club and despite that, Sousuke had made Makoto feel completely love-struck or something. And now he had the responsibility to message and organise something – a date. Or whatever.

He sighed deeply and got to his feet, stripping away his work uniform and throwing it to the floor – his usual clothes storage system. After stripping down to boxer briefs and throwing a large old t-shirt on, Makoto left his room, taking his phone and walking to the small kitchen area to make some tea or something to calm his adrenalin fuelled system.

It was late in the apartment so Makoto was quiet but as he was boiling water, the soft sound of the kettle whistling, he heard the rustling that indicated Haru was awake and moments later he appeared, sleep mussed hair and baggy shirt and boxers.

"Tea?" Makoto offered and Haru nodded, a small grunt the only answer.

Makoto made the tea for both of them, handing over a steaming cup and watching as Haru blew the steam delicately away from his face before taking a tentative sip of the hot scalding liquid. Makoto wasn't sure how he did it – he always waited for his tea to cool a little before he took a sip but Haru always took one as though he didn't care about the heat. He always seemed to dive into everything head first.

"Did I wake you?" Makoto asked as they stood in the kitchen together, Haru leaning against the counter as Makoto stood against the cool silver refrigerator.

Haru shook his head, his hair falling across his eyes and then he flicked his head to stop it obscuring his vision. "I couldn't sleep anyway."

Reassured that he'd not woken his roommate, Makoto moved his hand and suddenly he saw Haru's eyes narrow. He hadn't wanted to discuss it yet – not while he was still high from their second meeting, not while he was keeping Sousuke's name to himself like a secret – a name he didn't want anyone else to say yet but it was already over it seemed. Nagisa may've been more obvious and less thoughtful in his interrogation and trying to find out what was up with Makoto but Haru was more abrupt and level-headed.

"You have pen on your hand."

Makoto looked at the numbers, the blurring of the nine and five, and he then shrugged. "It's his number."

He didn't need to elaborate on whose number it was – Haru did make a small noise that indicated shock and his eyes did widen but then he schooled his features back into something more neutral, looking as though he didn't care.

"Your crush?"

"Yeah… he sang at the club," Makoto said, unable to stop himself from smiling as he thought about Sousuke's voice – the way it seemed to tingle up his spine and the way he looked on the stage, his eyes closed. "And he gave me his number. His name is Sousuke."

Haru was looking at the water in his cup rather than at Makoto, his eyes then looking up when Makoto had finished speaking as though he knew he didn't want to be scrutinised right then. Not when Makoto was being all obsessed with the guy. "You have to call him?"

Makoto hadn't thought of calling him. Only sending some message. The idea of calling him filled him with a dread he couldn't deal with as already Sousuke seemed far too cool for a boy from Iwatobi. He felt like the small town kid he was, blundering his way through big city dating.

"I'll send him a message," he said after thinking about it and Haru nodded, putting down his cup on the counter.

"Thanks for the tea."

And without another word, Haru went back to his room leaving Makoto in the silence of the kitchen, sipping at his own tea. When it was done, he checked his phone, seeing Nagisa had texted to check he felt okay and Makoto sent a brief message to confirm he was – just tired, maybe getting a cold – something vague enough that Nagisa didn't press too much further when he saw him again.

Then he climbed into his bed, removing his glasses and turning off the light, his room still illuminated by the small screen of his phone. He stared at it – he'd opened the message, opened his message to Sousuke but he'd not typed anything.

Would it be too eager for him to text straight away? What was he supposed to do? Wait? But then Makoto had waited five days and Sousuke hadn't blanked him when he could've. Sousuke had come towards him, had spoken to him, had given him the number so Makoto needed to gain the self-confidence he never seemed to have and steel his nerve to send the message.

Dating was not something Makoto had done before, not really. He wasn't inexperienced but his ex had been a childhood friend who'd he fumbled around with through his teenage years, figuring out things together in their bedrooms, their parents sleeping down the hall unaware of their silent touching, their gasps into each other mouths. They cleaned up well after themselves and Makoto's parents had never really suspected.

So this… this was totally different. Groaning in frustration, he threw the phone onto the bed sheets somewhere and ran his fingers through his hair for what seemed like the hundredth time in a short period. But then he gritted his teeth, steeled his resolve and grabbed for the cell, sliding it open from the lock screen to see the screen ready for him to send a message.

He wanted to play it cool, he wanted to put some of the pressure onto Sousuke instead of being a fumbling mess. And maybe he wanted to be the one chased and asked for once as so much so far had been down to Makoto and his submission to Rush Hour Crush. So he typed the message, smiling a little as he did. As while Makoto didn't have Sousuke's flair, he still knew it sounded pretty good and it already made it seem like they had a little shared joke between them.

/Mr. Tall, Dark and Tattooed. I'm Makoto. /

With a small smile of triumph, Makoto put his phone on the side and snuggled down into his covers, intending to just sleep and see what happened in the morning. Sousuke would be too cool to answer straight away.

Apparently he wasn't as the phone buzzed loudly, vibrating against the polished wood of his size table. Makoto grabbed for it, dropping it onto his floor and scrabbling around for it for a moment before he saw the message.

/Makoto… Meet tomorrow?/

Makoto blinked, a part of him shocked that so far it had all seemed so easy. Then he thought about his day tomorrow. He had classes all afternoon and then he was at work. He had barely any time to fit anything in but he had to.

/Morning? I have classes and work tomorrow./

The response took a little while longer and Makoto worried, swallowing, his heart seeming to have lodged itself in his throat as he waited for the message back. After more than five minutes, he was about to put the phone back down, wrap himself in his covers and go to sleep. But the phone buzzed again and he saw the message.

/I have a appointment early. You can join me though./

Sighing, relieved Makoto sent a message back confirming he could and asking for directions of where they should meet. Makoto was quite happy when Sousuke suggested a coffee shop that was not too far from the university so that once they were done, Makoto could get to his classes. Maybe even spend a little time in the library catching up with some of his work like he should be doing rather than getting distracted by Sousuke.

/Night. Makoto./

/Night./

The last messages made Makoto's heart skip as he could imagine the way Sousuke would say it after their brief conversation at the club and it made him wonder what it would be like to meet for real. To talk, to touch… to kiss and more… He felt his body heat rise and tried to dampen down his libido knowing that while it had been awhile since he'd been laid, he was not just jumping into bed with Sousuke whatever. He wasn't that dumb.

Once he was sure there would be no more responses, he put his phone on the side and buried his head in his pillow, attempting to fall asleep. He knew he probably wouldn't – his mind wondering what sort of appointment he could join Sousuke for – but he tried, closing his eyes, regulating his breathing until finally in the early hours of the morning, Makoto slept, his dreams filled of being lost around Tokyo but found by a guy with the brightest blue eyes and the sexiest of smirks.