It's been two months. Please forgive me. But here is your Makoharu fluff as promised, however late.

Run Away with Me

Nagisa had decided, finally, that Haru was worthy enough to give their guest a tour of the pool. Apparently, Makoto swam too, and Haru filed that information away under "things that make me forget I have a horrible night ahead of me", next to Makoto's smile and perpetual kindness.

The party of four had finally reached the pool after traipsing through hallway after hallway in the various science buildings (Rei's section of the tour), and Nagisa had had enough.

"Rei-channnnn," he whined, pushing open the glass door of the fitness complex, letting in a rush of chlorine. "Science is no fun! Mako-chan came with us because he trusted that we would show him the glories of our campus!"

"You don't consider science to be a glory of our campus?" Rei gasped, looking personally offended. "Nagisa-kun, without science, there would be no campus."

"Oh, Rei-chan, you're so pretty, but you can be so slow."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Oblivious to the chatter of his friends, Haru stood rigid in the doorway to the pool, inhaling the tantalizing scent of his beloved water. He closed his eyes and sighed. The smell and simple presence of the water was unbelievably comforting, and he wondered why he hadn't booked it to the pool any earlier that day. He should've skipped his classes-it wasn't like he accomplished anything in them anyways, thanks to Kisumi and Nagisa's determination to get on his every last nerve. Instead of growing agitated at the hands of his friends, Haru could have been soaking in his solitary oasis, having his troubles melt away with the touch of the water.

As soon as he stepped through the metal threshold and onto the tiled squares of the pool room's floor, Haru forgot about his present reality. No longer was he at the pool to give a tour-he was there to sink into its silky depths and never leave. The list of "things that make me forget I have a horrible night ahead of me" was tossed aside, replaced with the list of "things I will be doing for the rest of today and forever", under which there was a single item listed: swimming. Makoto? Who was that? Sousuke? Didn't exist. Water? It was the world.

Slowly, Haru began approaching pool's edge, blinders on and zeroed in on his singular, pressing goal. Chlorine, it beckoned him. It was utterly enchanting, promising everything good and freedom from his living hell of a day. Haru needed more-he needed to be in it, surrounded by it.

His fingers, nimble from years of practice, walked up the hem of his shirt to the vertical column of buttons, poised to start undoing them. One hand reached up to the collar of his shirt, tugging it away from his skin to give him some form of temporary relief. Then, he clutched the pressed fabric in his hands and pulled and…

Huh?

The scent of chlorine was suddenly muddled, and Haru found himself slipping out of his trance. He took another sniff, wondering if it had simply grown fainter with a draft of air or poor circulation but… No, it was a new smell. Or, smells, rather. Laundry detergent, something grassy, and… mint? And sounds… Why were Rei and Nagisa being so loud? Had they been arguing the whole time? And why was his shoulder suddenly heavy?

"...okay? Haru...chan?"

Haru jerked his head up from its downcast position, a hand flying to his shoulder to assess the added pressure. It took him a moment to register, but he quickly realized that the voice he had heard was Makoto's, and so were the rough, long-boned fingers beneath his own.

"Chan," Makoto said with more resolution. "Haru-chan."

What?

Taking in another whiff of fresh spearmint, Haru twisted to face Makoto. His all-too-kind crinkled eyes looked unnatural as they glared Haru down through his brown-framed glasses. Scruffy hair tumbled down his nose and he quirked his lips to blow it out of his face. Haru almost smiled-the stern look didn't fit him.

"You were really close to the water," Makoto scolded, compelled by Haru's strange expression to explain, "and you seemed like you were in some kind of a trance. I didn't want you to fall in."

Oh. That's what he's doing.

"Um, Haru-chan?"

Chan? Haru crinkled up his face, and although he didn't know why someone who was essentially a complete stranger was calling him by the name Nagisa tended to torture him with, he knew it needed to stop.

"Don't call me that," he snapped, shooting poison darts with his eyes and trying not to notice how they melted beneath Makoto's emerald gaze. Despite himself, Haru clenched his jaw, determined to see the glare through to the end.

"O-Oh, sorry," Makoto stuttered. He bit his lip and looked as though he wanted to step away, but something was holding there. After a closer assessment and a stab to Haru's pride, Haru realized it was his own hand that was keeping Makoto locked in place.

"Uh, um…" Makoto glanced nervously at their hands and then back at Haru, whose sight was still trained on his pale, slender fingers wrapped around Makoto's tanner, larger hand. Haru shifted his grip slightly, brushing his fingertips over the light calluses that fringed the edges of Makoto's palm. He imagined the hand cutting through the pool water, and Haru had the sudden urge to strip again.

"Hazuki-kun told me to call you that because it would get your attention, since you weren't really responding to anything," Makoto continued. Pausing, Haru furrowed his brow. Why didn't Nagisa just come get me himself? And why didn't he just tell Makoto I wasn't going to fall in?

"Haru-chan!" Nagisa hollered from the pool doorway. He had an arm slung over Rei's shoulders, who appeared to have sorely lost their futile argument, as per usual. "Come on, we've seen enough of the pool, and Rei-chan agreed that it's time we show Mako-chan a good time." He pulled his boyfriend closer and nuzzled his cheek. "Isn't that right, Daddy?"

Haru suppressed the urge to vomit as crimson bled all over Rei's face, and Makoto shifted uneasily at his side. A low hiss escaped his mouth. I'm missing swimming for this.

"N-Nagisa-kun," Rei stammered, "I told you not to call me that in public."

Disaster number 26.

"No, no," Nagisa shushed, pressing his index finger to Rei's gaping mouth, "I agreed not to call you Mommy."

Disaster number 27.

"Um."

Upon Makoto's small vocalization, Nagisa and Rei miraculously paused in what was bound to turn into another fight, and stared at their guest with wide eyes. After a moment, Nagisa shrugged and giggled.

"Ah, Mako-chan, we're not being very good hosts! So sorry about that." He was apologizing, but the demonic twinkle in his eyes suggested he didn't feel bad at all. "But…" He bit his lip and looked at Rei and then back at Makoto, calculating all the way. Eventually, his eyes rested on Haru, whose stomach turned. Haru marked whatever was about to happen as his 28th disaster of the day, despite not knowing what it was. Anything involving a plotting Nagisa was bound to be bad.

But plotting what, exactly?

"Haru-chan, something has just come up in my very busy schedule, and I'm going to need you to show Mako-chan around without me. And Rei's busy now, too."

"Huh?" Makoto and Rei voiced simultaneously. Haru merely restrained from placing his head in his hands.

"Since when are you a master of my schedule?" Rei asked, sounding deeply offended by the assumption. "I will let you know that the only person with access to my personal planner is me, and my next daily event doesn't occur until I take a shower at 11 p.m.."

Nagisa smirked and seductively wrapped his fingers around the temples of Rei's glasses, easing them off as he shimmied in closer. "But you're forgetting, Rei-chan. On my schedule, it says you take a shower now. With me."

28.

"Nagi-!"

"Shhhhhhh. We can put the children to bed first so they won't know."

29.

To that, Rei looked more confused than embarrassed. "What in God's name has gotten into you?" he asked. Nagisa lowered his voice to a whisper.

"It's not what's gotten into me, Rei-chan," he cooed. "It's more what's about to get into you." He winked, and Haru was certain Rei was about to melt into a puddle of shame on the floor.

30.

The other person Haru was certain was on the brink of dying from discomfort was Makoto, who seemed to be clinging onto his every ounce of strength to not flee the room. He shot Haru a desperate glance, and it was Haru's turn to save him, much in the fashion that he had saved Haru from the toaster that morning, though in this case, Makoto had already burst into flames.

"Nagisa! Rei!" Haru finally barked, forcing their flirting to a halt. Rei let out a sigh of relief, but Nagisa simply looked disappointed. "Shut up."

"Haru-chan is so mean," Nagisa whined, sticking out his bottom lip. "But you'll show Mako-chan around so Rei and I can go get dirty, right?"

"Nagisa-kun! I'm fairly certain the purpose of taking a shower is cleaning off!"

"Fine," Haru submitted, not caring much to stick around with the couple any longer than he had to, even if it meant having to be relatively amiable and talkative for an hour or so. Considering what he knew of Makoto so far, it couldn't be that bad, and Haru took his horrified reaction to his friends' antics as a promising sign of his sanity. He turned his chin back over his shoulder and swallowed, summoning a softer tone to address Makoto without facing him directly. "Follow me."

"Thanks, Haru-chan!" Nagisa chirped as they exited through the door to the lobby-something Haru never thought he would do without even so much as coming in contact with the water. But desperate times called for desperate measures, he supposed. "We'll see you at the party, okay?"

Party. Right. Haru didn't bother hiding behind his hair as he rolled his eyes. There was no reason for him to have to go to a party if the fate of the campus tour was in his own hands. Maybe he and Makoto could just go swimming instead…

"Yeah, definitely!" chimed Makoto, having regained the ability to articulate his thoughts. Haru almost wished he had remained speechless. Dammit, he cursed, plans thwarted once again.

"Okay, well have fun!" Nagisa waved them off. "And don't forget to-"

Haru ushered Makoto out the glass door and slammed it behind him, cutting off Nagisa mid-sentence. He sighed, taking in the peace and quiet, freed from the clutches of blond Satan. Why did he hang out with Nagisa in the first place? More times than not, when they interacted, he ended up just longing to be alone again.

"Well, your friends are certainly… flamboyant."

Haru's eyebrows arched, intrigued by Makoto's voice for a moment before bearing down and furrowing when he caught a glimpse of the smile twisting Makoto's cheeks in a fond reverie. Makoto chuckled to himself, and Haru gaped. How was he… amused? After that? After he had been outwardly cringing just moments before? Escaping from the building dry was astonishing enough, but then…

"They're nice. I like them."

There's something wrong with him, Haru concluded, gaping more openly because he honestly couldn't manage a tamer reaction.

"I've certainly never met people like them before," he continued, tapping a finger to his chin as they exited the fitness complex to step out into the brisk, outside, evening air. Makoto didn't miss a beat, making sure to wave at the receptionist on his way out-a nicety Haru rarely remembered or carried out. Haru couldn't help but notice the young girl (she must have been getting in some service hours) swoon a bit as she met the receiving end of the dazzling emerald gaze, and he couldn't blame her, although it did irritate him a bit. Does he really find it necessary to do that to everybody he meets? Haru wondered, eyebrows pinching together even more. He shook his head.

"Kisumi did say they were a bit eccentric… but those shower comments…"

Blinking, Haru snapped back into the conversation that was apparently still ongoing, despite his failure to contribute a single word to it. It confused him-how Makoto was still talking-talking to him-when it was all clearly one-sided. Nagisa would have strapped himself onto Haru's chest koala-style by then, Rei's speech would have been peppered with desperate "Haruka-senpai"s every other word, and Rin probably would have just slapped him. He and Sousuke didn't talk much in the first place, so no effort would have been made on that front.

"I do have to admit they were very entertaining, though I am a bit worried as to how they'll be at the party tonight. Considering there might be alcohol, right?"

Upon asking his question, Makoto paused for a moment, inviting Haru to speak. Haru figured that the magical "talking-to-self-and-pretending-others-are-contributing" streak had finally run out, and that he actually couldn't answer his words himself. Flicking his eyes along the red brick of the pathway to the quad, Haru sighed.

"Everybody will be drunk," he affirmed, voice flat. Seriously, had Makoto never been to a college party before? Haru was hardly the avid party-goer, but he had been dragged along with his friends enough times to be familiar with the atmosphere. He wasn't sure if he should tell Makoto about the explicit grinding or recreational drug use then, or wait for him to see for himself later.

"O-Oh, okay," Makoto responded, sounding a bit less enthusiastic about attending than he had earlier. "Well, they probably know how to pace themselves, so I doubt we have to worry."

Okay, the bandaid definitely needed ripping off. In four, simple words, Haru conveyed all Makoto needed to know.

"Nagisa will molest you."

"Eh?!" Makoto's eyes flew wide with shock. "...molest?" he echoed.

Haru nodded. His statement had definitely done the trick. Eyes saucers and face flushed, Makoto looked like the last person who would be diving into the said activity of Nagisa-instituted molestation. Surely he wouldn't find some way to justify attendance knowing that. His tolerance couldn't be that high.

"And…" Makoto bit his lip-an action that drew far more of Haru's attention than it should have-and spoke his next words in a tiptoe of a sentence. "You know this from experience?"

Firsthand, secondhand, third…? It was all the same. Eyelids sagging, Haru allowed the exasperation to flow full force through his face, and Makoto seemed to get the message, as he coughed and nodded.

"Ah, I see." Shoving his hands into his suit pockets, he tilted his head up towards the sky and sighed, a bit of the beet-red color draining from his face. Haru-eyes still flooded with the image of the lip bite-let his gaze trace the flyaway strands of chestnut hair that fluttered in the light breeze and studied the way the setting sun reflected off the lenses of Makoto's glasses and lit up his profile in a golden halo. Thankfully, Makoto was enthralled enough with the fluffy white clouds above them to notice. Haru idly wondered what would happen if a wall materialized in front of them, or a step or tree root at their feet, with Makoto watching the sky and Haru watching him. They would surely fall.

"I think I can handle it, though," Makoto suddenly affirmed, breaking the silence, and Haru had to blink and shake his head before he remembered they were having a conversation. Right.

"Hazuki may be a bit more extreme, but I'm used to the clinginess," he continued. "I have twin younger siblings, and a lot of people say little kids act kind of drunk, right? Sometimes, when I would get home from school in high school, they would latch onto my legs on the front steps of the house, and I had to explain to them that I would never be truly 'home' until I was inside, and that I couldn't play with them until I put my bags down, which I couldn't do on the porch. They were always so excited to see me, and that was probably one of the hardest parts of going away to university. I kept waking up in the morning without the twins jumping on my bed and-"

The steady flow of speech was interrupted when Makoto abruptly stopped, catching his tongue and peering at Haru out of the corner of his eye. Lulled by the melodic voice and no-pressure, almost unsettlingly natural one-sided dialogue, Haru was shocked when an awkward silence fell. He quickly tried to pinpoint the cause of conversation-death. Had Makoto noticed he wasn't listeni-no. He was listening. And Makoto was talking. Was the listening the problem? Did he need to say something? Had Makoto been waiting for him? In an instant, the pressure was on, and Haru was floundering in the depths of social hell. Disaster alarms were going off, and the count was on the rise. Of course he was expecting me to talk, Haru berated himself as he tallied thirty-one. He was just talking to make up for me.

"I'm sorry," they both said in unison. And then stared at the other in unison, baffled as to why he had apologized as well.

"Why are you…?"

"I don't-"

Haru caught his tongue before more words could spill out and he could dig himself an even deeper hole. He would just let Makoto explain first, as he seemed ready to, and if Haru were left to explain, he would probably fuck it up, as he wasn't sure what was going on in the first place. To him, the situation had been crystal clear; that was, until Makoto had apologized.

"I, um, well," Makoto started, and the lip bite was back. "I don't exactly know what you're apologizing for…" Okay, we're in the same boat. "But as for me, I just… Sorry for jumping into my life story like that. We hardly know each other, and I know I can talk a lot, but you're just really easy to talk to and I got carried away. You probably didn't want to hear all of that about my family and stuff, and it was completely off topic. We were talking about Nagisa and the party, right? Yeah, the clinginess…"

"It's fine." This time, Haru had to cut Makoto off, as although he hadn't found his incessant speech irritating before, it was definitely getting on his nerves as apology after explanation after circling back to the unwelcome topic of the party fell from his perfectly sculpted mouth. "I don't mind."

"Really?" Makoto gaped, evidently dumbfounded by the statement. "You don't?"

"I actually prefer it," Haru encouraged, though he wasn't quite sure what he was saying or why he was saying it. "I prefer listening."

"Oh." Makoto appeared dumbfounded, as if he had never encountered someone who wasn't into all that talking stuff before. "I guess that works out well then. Also, uh, what dorm do you live in?"

Slowing to a standstill upon the question, Haru gradually became more aware of his surroundings, and more aware of the fact that he was in a part of campus he rarely frequented. It didn't feel like they had been walking for long, so Haru guessed that they weren't too far away from his dorm, which was about a ten minute walk from the fitness center, but what did he know? He had just been walking, following Makoto, and the pale grey walls of the campus apartments were disregarded afterthoughts.

"I just kind of headed back to my apartment because I figured you would head off for your dorm, unless there's a different route you take that goes through here?"

Makoto was clearly prompting, trying to shift the focus of the interaction off of Haru's blatant obliviousness with regards to direction, and he was staring down at his feet. Deep in Haru's mind, walls were crashing down and burning as his thoughts rushed to collect themselves. It looks like I was inviting myself to his apartment. Of course he feels awkward turning me away. I should just leave.

On his last thought, Haru swallowed and turned on his heel, blurting a small "sorry" that definitely didn't sound like a "sorry" at all. For the third time that day, a firm hand caught Haru by the shoulder, and Haru stumbled as he skidded to a stop. Reluctantly, Haru turned his head and lifted his eyes beneath the safety of his bangs. He was poised like a wild animal, ready to spring and run for freedom at the slightest sign of danger.

"I can walk you back to your dorm, if you'd like," Makoto offered with a tentative smile. However small, it worked like magic, and Haru felt himself relaxing, incredulous. "Or, rather, you would walk me back to your dorm, because I have no idea where it is."

Makoto chuckled nervously, scoffing at his honest admittance, and Haru wheezed a bit in return. Haru felt a bit ridiculous-spurred to action by a single hesitation. He was still suspicious of course, and almost 100% certain that Makoto's offer stemmed solely from a sense of obligation, but… maybe that wasn't the worst thing. Although he had caused his own share of disasters over the course of the day, he had actually prevented more. It was strange, thinking about it like that.

How?

"Unless you don't want me to."

"Hmm?"

"Or…?"

Fumbling to remember what Makoto had just said, Haru gaped and shook his head. The shaking sped up once Haru caught a full grasp of the statement.

"N-n-n-no," he stuttered. "It-it's fine. I want you to. Yes."

Makoto's nose screwed up adorably as he smirked, and Haru mentally kicked himself again for noticing or even associating something on this hell forsaken earth with the word "adorable", and his green eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Okay, then. Lead the way."

The walk from Makoto's apartment to Haru's dorm took approximately sixteen minutes, and Haru quickly figured out that the pathway he thought would lead him back to the quad wasn't the only red brick pathway on campus, and also, he really needed to pay more attention. This was becoming an issue.

Along their way, Haru pointed out various features of the campus, making little effort to spice up his disinterested monotone when addressing the mail center or campus convenience store (it was already work enough to point them out in the first place). Makoto would nod thoughtfully or ask a question about hours or services at each one, to which most of the time, Haru's responses spanned from "I don't know" to "You dry-clean your shirts?" Once all concerns were addressed, Makoto would offer a routine "thank you, that's useful to know", and they would be headed on their way.

Haru's dorm, Dorm Five, was the last in a row of three-story, light brick structures that bordered the campus' main quad. Dorms one through three housed girls, and dorms four and five housed boys. In the grassy rectangle in front of them was a host of Japanese maples and a little koi pond. Along the walkway that stretched across the lawn area were wooden benches that Haru now regarded with a scowl, seeing as all he could do was relive the misery and back pain they had brought him the night before.

"So this is where the freshman live?" Makoto asked as they walked up the steps to Dorm Five. He glanced up at the weathered brick and tacky window units, long out of use since the beginning of autumn. "They look nice."

"They're not," Haru deadpanned, pulling out his building key. "And it's sophomores," he corrected. "And some upperclassmen as well."

"Oh," Makoto caught himself, shuffling his feet. "I just assumed because Hazu-"

"It's fine." Jamming his key into the finicky keyhole, Haru twisted and pulled the door open. He stood back to allow Makoto to step inside, and then followed him into the empty stairwell.

"So, um, this is where I live," Haru narrated, slipping back into tourguide mode. Honestly, for however shitty of a job he was doing with the whole thing, Nagisa owed him big time. "I live on the second floor. Rei lives next door to me, Nagisa lives on the first floor, Sousuke's my roommate, and Rin and Kisumi live in Dorm Four." Upon completing his sentence, Haru frowned, not sure of what else to say. The dorm wasn't particularly interesting; it was just where you went to sleep and put all of your things. "It's where I sleep and put all of my things."

"Rei, Sousuke, Rin…" Makoto trailed off, appearing to be deep in concentration as he tried to place names with faces. Haru, however, was sucked back into a trance of cursing at himself in disgusted bafflement. What the fuck? Why did I say that? "It's where I sleep and put all my things." Seriously, Haru, what the fuck is wrong with you?

"...fighting?" Makoto's voice summoned Haru from his state of berating and wallowing, and Haru flipped back his bangs in an attempt to seem unfazed by the sentence Makoto probably hadn't even heard.

"What?" he asked, feeling slightly bad for making Makoto repeat himself yet again because he kept zoning out.

"Were… Rin and Sousuke… um, the ones who were fighting? At dinner?"

Makoto coughed and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose before proceeding to fiddle with the knot of his tie. The discomfort was tangible, and Haru realized there was something more important than the question itself that he needed to address.

"You don't have to call them by their surnames," Haru said. The constant mention of "Hazuki" was starting to get on his nerves. "You called me 'Haru-chan' and you call Kisumi by his first name, so I don't see why you shouldn't do the same with the others." Especially because they don't have manners of their own, Haru thought.

"Oh! Um." Makoto's ears were turning a painful shade of pink, and he clasped his hands behind his back which only contributed to his look of unadulterated shame. Haru didn't understand-shouldn't he be relieved? "Sorry about that-about earlier-when I called you-"

"Don't say it," Haru snapped, a bit more viciously than was called for.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Makoto threw up his hands. After a drawn-out moment, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, he refocused on Haru, his ears still flaming, but the color gradually dimming in intensity. "I'll call them by their first names then, if you're sure it's okay."

Haru almost snorted. Nagisa would have a fit if he knew Makoto was referring to him by surname. "They would prefer it."

"Okay, that's great then!" Makoto enthused. "Now I won't have to worry about tripping up when I see everybody again. I keep having to think back on surnames when you use all first names. So, Rin and Sousuke were the ones who were fighting, correct?"

"Yeah, they're assholes," Haru affirmed, blurting out the last part on accident. Yet, instead of falling into an awkward silence at the statement, Makoto laughed.

"I don't know them well enough to say that," he conceded, "but they both certainly seemed a bit hot-headed." He sighed and looked at Haru imploringly. "Relationship problems?"

Haru grimaced. "More like eyesight problems and too much alcohol." At the mention of alcohol, Haru all but groaned. Right, the party. I should run to the fitness center while there's still time.

Chuckling again, Makoto tapped a finger to his chin. "I guess they weren't the only two who fell victim to alcohol and bad prescriptions?"

"No…" Crossing his arms as the ice of the previous night crept back over him, Haru flicked his gaze up to Makoto's bemused expression. Now, his features and voice seemed to be bubbling with considerable ease-reflecting the first version of Makoto Haru had come in contact with that morning. Calm, relaxed, and happy-not a nervous wreck hung up on pretenses and niceties. Makoto, in turn, lowered his eyes to meet Haru's, and they softened into a friendly concern.

"Did something happen?" he asked.

Haru shook his head, deciding it wasn't worth the trouble to explain, and he didn't feel like catapulting Makoto back into a state of discomfort.

"No, they're just irritating."

"Hmm." Makoto clearly wasn't buying it, but he wasn't pressing anymore either, and Haru could practically see him filing away the subject for later review. Huffing, he cast his face to the floor, only to jolt it right back up when footsteps came thudding down the stairs above him.

Rounding the corner in a flurry of brightly-dyed feathers overflowing in their arms were none other than Rei and Nagisa, as if fleeing from some horrible beast. Rei's face bore an expression of explicit horror, and Nagisa's, of pure delight.

"Hi, Haru-chan! Hi, Mako-chan!" Nagisa greeted when he drew close enough to see over the top of the pile of feather boas that threatened to fall to the floor at any moment. Rei was visibly panting, despite running track, and Nagisa wasn't slowing down for anything. He pushed right past his friends and kicked open the door to the outside, Rei wearily following. "See you at the party!" he yelled before darting away into the dusk. Rei, however, stopped to catch his breath. He gave Haru an exasperated look.

"Please show up to the party this time, Haruka-senpai," he said, and then turned to Makoto. "Don't let him escape to the pool. He will try. Nagisa-kun would be heartbroken if he didn't show up for this, and we would have purchased blue boas for nothing."

With a gesture to the royal blue feathers at the top of his stack, Rei sighed, and continued to exit through the door Nagisa had disappeared through moments before. At the last second, he poked his head back around the doorframe.

"Also, I would recommend following Nagisa's lead and clearing the premises. He has irritated your roommate immensely, Haru."

A quick adjustment of his red-framed glasses later, Rei was gone, leaving Makoto and Haru alone with an impending sense of doom hanging over Haru's head. Why did he have to mess with Sousuke?

"That was a bit cryptic," Makoto commented, staring at the door as it clicked shut. Haru couldn't bring himself to nod-he was too busy waiting for the storm that was an even more enraged Sousuke to hit. Why me? Why today? Right on schedule, a furious shout was heard overhead, muffled only by distance and very thin walls.

"YOU'RE GOING TO WEAR THE BOA WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, RIN!" came the gruff voice of Haru's roommate, and Makoto and Haru looked at each other, a mutual understanding flowing between their eyes.

"So about that party, huh?" Makoto offered, taking a deep breath. Haru wasn't even going to try pulling the pool card on this one. They just needed to get out before Rin screeched his reply.

"Yeah," Haru muttered, heading outside. "Let's go."

And they fled, in the hopes of avoiding disaster number 31.

Lights pulsed, drinks sloshed, and the heavy bass vibrated through Haru's ribcage with every beat of the song. Silhouettes danced on walls as students danced on couches. Haru looked longingly at the door which would lead him to safety, and then back at Makoto's hand clutching his own.

"Come on," came the musical voice, barely audible over the synthesizers. Neon lights flashed in emerald eyes. Makoto gave Haru's hand a tug.

"Dance with me."

"It'll be fun."

"You have really lovely eyes."

"Come back to my apartment?"

"Are you sure?"

"God, yes."

I am so, so sorry. So sincerely, terribly sorry about my sucking as an author and neglecting this fic. Poor baby... *strokes laptop screen* BUT, I plan on making up for my commitment issues big time, and I have an actual, detailed, OUTLINED plan for the next two chapters. I am VERY excited for them.

I also planted some things in here that I'm sure will inspire me later... *cough* Rei lives next door to Haru *cough* I wonder what I could do with that *cough* It's not like I made the walls thin or anything *cough cough cough*

Also, as this chapter was written over the course of two months, and I swore to myself that I would have it posted by the end of today if it killed me, it is not edited. MufasasPride did a lovely read-over, but really I only have 32 minutes until tomorrow and just... I WANTED TO GET CHAPTER THREE OUT TO YOU!

Thank you for reading and suffering with me as I repeatedly fail as a human being. I will try my hardest to not let this happen again. T w T (Additionally obligatory s/o to MufasasPride who is a better human than I am and regularly updates her stuff. Go check it out homies)