CHAPTER 18: CONFRONTATION

Friday. Misaki said she would break up with Makoto on Friday, three days- somehow to Rin that both seemed like an eternity away yet also too soon. Why did I agree to be there? He thought sourly as he plopped down on his bed and let out a sigh.

"Was that the girl?" Nitori asked from his seat at his desk. "The one who gave you the necklace."

"Yeah."

"But I thought she had a boyfriend?"

Rin flinched and rolled over so his back to was to Nitori. "Just drop it okay?" The room fell silent as Rin took to playing a game on his phone and Nitori continued with his studies. Rin was expecting a text from Misaki when she got home so the ping of his phone wasn't unusual, the sender of the message however had his heart rate spiking.

'meet me at old swim club in 10'

'the place doesn't even exist anymore' Rin responded to Makoto's text, hoping that whatever this was about he could avoid. He was wrong. The phone screen lit up, a cheery tune filling the room and Makoto's name flashing across the screen.

"Fuck," Rin mumbled before answering the phone, "Yo Makoto our swim club got torn down remember?"

"You owe me this Rin." Makoto sounded different, his voice was raspy and tinged with anger.

"What are you talking about?"

"Misaki, I'm talking about you and Misaki."

"Mak-"

"10 minutes, please Rin, be there."

It wasn't long after the phone call that Rin got the text from Misaki saying she was home safe. For a moment he considering not responding, but he knew the noirette too well. She'd be anxious and last thing he needed was her calling him repeatedly while he was with Makoto. He also debating telling her what was going on. That Makoto knew- which still didn't make much sense. Not even an hour ago Misaki had told Rin that she had met with Makoto and was too scared to tell him. So how did he suddenly know? Not having the answer to that question led Rin to the decision to keep it a secret from Misaki. At least for now. Rin settled on texting Misaki that he was going to work out and this lie added to the pool of nerves in his stomach.

Rin didn't get nervous. He was a competitive swimmer from a young age and had learned to calm his nerves so he could perform his best in all situations. But this was different and suddenly Rin felt those knots in his stomach, the lightheadedness, the feeling that if he wasn't careful he might vomit, and the almost uncontrollable shaking of his legs as he walked. Before turning the corner to the old swim club he stopped and took a breath to compose himself, though it did little to ease his worries.

"Yo," Rin stated confidently as he turned the corner and saw Makoto standing on the sidewalk in front of the empty lot. "Looks weird seeing it all torn down huh?"

"Yeah," Makoto mumbled, still staring off into the space where their old swim club used to be. "Do you love her?"

"What?" Rin stopped walking, leaving distance between him and his friend.

"Misaki," green eyes turned to match red, "Do you love her?"

"Look Makoto I don't know what's going on but-"

Makoto took long, hurried strides to close the gap and grabbed Rin by the collar of his jacket and forcefully pulled him forward. "Don't lie to me!" Tears lined his eyes and Rin's nerves were replaced by an immeasurable feeling of guilt.

"Yes," Rin grabbed Makoto's hands and forced them off him, "I do, and I have for a long time. You knew that." The guilt was too much to bear. Looking into one of his best friends eyes and seeing that hurt caused Rin to feel like the most abominable human on the planet. He simply couldn't cope with those emotions, so he turned to an emotion he had grown comfortable with during his time abroad. Anger.

"I asked you to look after her for me because I loved her, and yes I still love her," Rin took a step back, as if daring Makoto to come at him again.

"That day you asked me to look after her I asked you the same question. I asked you if you loved her and you said yes, and that meant you wouldn't hurt her. You hurt her Rin, you broke your promise to me and her and you weren't even around to help pick up the pieces. And now, now that she's finally happy again you want to take that all away."

"Things got rough and-"

"No!" Makoto yelled, his fists clenched tightly and his shoulders quivering. "You don't get to make anymore excuses. You didn't have to see how sad she was after you stopped talking to her, to us. Haru and I made it through because we had each other, but Misaki had no one. She was alone until Azami and even then she turned down every other opportunity for any kind of relationship. You asked me to watch over her and I did, but that turned into me watching this beautiful girl give up on life because of you."

"I came back," Rin snarled, his face beginning to burn from the anger as he heard Makoto accuse him of ruining Misaki's life. "I came back to find out that you decided to date her. Was that your solution? I made her miserable so you had to step in and save the day!?"

"I love her too you know." Makoto said it softly, his shoulders slumping forward and a tear running down his cheek. "We had no idea you'd be back."

"Well I am and things are epically fucked up," Rin sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, that feeling of guilt beginning to creep back up. "How'd you find out?"

"Rei and Nagisa saw you two kiss today outside of Samezuka. Guess Rei had a funny feeling and decided to investigate."

"Of course four eyes would get involved."

"I wish it could say it surprised me more, but it didn't. Misaki has been acting different and I was just hoping it wasn't turn or that she'd tell me. Not that I'd find out like this."

"Saying I'm sorry or we're sorry isn't going to do much but we are okay?"

"I don't want you to say you're sorry Rin. I want to know if you really love her."

Rin sighed and looked over at the empty lot. All the swim practices, all the laughs, the hugs, the joy of being in a friend group and knowing that they'd have each others backs forever. Times were simpler then and Rin wished for just a second they could go back to those days. "I already told you I did."

"Yeah but you told me you did before you left and-"

"I can't change the past so stop trying to make me feel like a piece of shit."

"That's not what I'm trying to do. I'm looking out for Misaki."

"Huh? No offense but shouldn't you be pissed at her?"

"I don't know what I feel towards her now," Makoto looked down at his shoes, "But I do know I can't just walk away from this without knowing she will be safe. You can't leave her again. You can't come back into her life and make her think things are going to work out and then decide it's too hard."

A soft smile came to Rin's face. "You really are the nicest guy I know. If I were you I'd want to kill me and never talk to Misaki again, but here you are trying to make sure she's going to be okay. Tch, I really am the asshole in all this huh?"

"Yeah," Makoto chuckled and wiped tears from his eyes, "You really are, but she loves you. And so do I and the rest of the guys, you're family."

Rin's breath hitched in his throat and he had to concentrate on not allowing tears to form. That unity, the feeling of belonging was all he ever really wanted and even after all of this Makoto was still offering it to him. "We really don't deserve you," he muttered, "I'm not going to say the word "promise" because well we know how well that worked out last time, but I love Misaki. I have for a long time and I want to make her happy and I can't imagine me leaving her again. It broke me too, and I can't do that again."

"Okay," Makoto nodded a few times before letting out a long exhale. "So should we go tell her?"

Rin almost wanted to laugh. In a way Makoto and Misaki did have a lot in common, especially with this whole wanting Rin involved in their breakup. "Yeah, I guess we should."

Oh snap! A whole...5 YEARS LATER. I legitimately cannot believe it's been that long since I've used this site. Don't ask me what spurred my sudden interest in writing again, but after I finally remembered my log in and read through this story I felt compelled to finish it. Misaki and Rin deserve an ending and it's well overdue. Story should be finished in 2 chapters and yes- I will be finishing it. So hello again to anyone still here, or anyone new. Glad to be back :)