Haru readjusted his chef's jacket before he checked over the bento he made for Makoto. Green curry, octopus sausages, a side of omelet and sticky garlic rice. With fruits and mochi as a dessert, he turned the box around to observe every detail before covering the box.

He took in a nervous breath, letting it out slowly. No matter how many times he made lunch for Makoto, he still felt his nerves leave him when he presented him the food, no matter how many times Makoto's eyes lit up with joy, exclaiming at how good the food was.

"Heading out to meet Tachibana-san?" Nitori called from the backroom as he searched some numbers in their contact list. They had recently picked up a large catering job for a wedding, and Nitori was making some calls to confirm a few things. Haru nodded at him, hiding the blush that was spreading across his cheeks. "Have a good break, then."

Haru gripped the doorknob, closing his eyes as he breathed. He didn't need to be worried, Makoto said he would be there for lunch, he had texted him exactly that last night. There was no reason for him to lie about it, there was no real reason to be scared that he wouldn't be there.

He had to be there. Haru opened his eyes slowly and turned the doorknob. He just had to be.

Haru blinked a bit in the sunlight, the last hints of summer fading in the sky. He looked around in a daze, before his eyes landed on Makoto, who was sitting on the bench, head resting on the wall behind him, eyes closed.

Haru held his breath as he watched him, heart racing a bit as he watched the steady rise and fall of Makoto's chest. He looked tired. Haru knew he had long hours on the job as a fireman, so he was probably just resting his eyes. He had dark circles under his eyes, probably from lack of sleep, and his clothes looked a bit dusty and disheveled. Did he just come from a fire? Haru felt a rush of worry wash over him. He never thought of how dangerous things might get for Makoto, and he suddenly imagined him, running through a building, maybe carrying someone who had been injured in the fire, flames licking at his protective clothing as he ran out to safety.

Haru approached him slowly, observing the way his eyelashes curled on his cheeks, how his lips were slightly parted as he slept, the gentle rumble of his breath, almost breaking on a snore. The breeze of the slowly fading summer caressed Makoto's hair, and it moved over his eyes. Haru brushed away his bangs gently from his forehead, hoping that the movement wouldn't wake him.

"Mm," Makoto stirred a bit in his sleep, and Haru pulled his hand away quickly, biting his lip as he watched. Makoto settled a little after and Haru breathed a bit easier, putting the bento down on the bench as he sat next to him.

Makoto's head lolled to the side, face turned towards Haru, and Haru quickly drew a breath. He wanted to watch Makoto sleep like this. How long had it been since Makoto came to his house to sleep over? He listened to his steady, quiet breathing as he looked at the column of his neck as it met his shoulder, a hint of collarbone before everything disappeared under his shirt. Haru gulped a bit as he turned his head away, lips suddenly dry. He wondered what it would be like to touch his neck. Was Makoto sensitive? Haru wanted to trace the lines with his fingertips while Makoto held him by the waist, trailing slow, languid circles on his hips as they drew closer together, lips parting slightly as their breaths began to mingle-

"Mm, how long was I asleep?" Makoto muttered in a daze before he slapped a hand hard over his eyes, before he dragged it down his face as he groggily began to wake up. Haru flinched and looked down at the ground, thinking of the insides of a fish he had to clean earlier that day to prevent his thoughts from affecting his body any further than the blush that was already heating up his ears. "Haru? How long have you been sitting there?"

Not long enough, Haru thought. "A few minutes," he replied, before sliding the bento towards Makoto, nudging his thigh with it. "For you. Eat."

He felt his insides melt when Makoto's face lit up, excitedly opening the box. "Haru! This looks fantastic!" he exclaimed, before he clapped his hands together in thanks, digging in almost immediately. "It's delicious!" Haru smiled a bit as he watched Makoto eat, the feeling of fondness spreading out through his chest as it reached his fingertips.

Makoto ate quickly, probably a habit he picked up from having to always be ready at a moment's notice, but he enjoyed the food Haru made him every time he stopped by. It made Haru want to feed him other things, made him want to learn what he liked all over again as they drank coffee together, maybe from those cat mugs that they'd bought-

"By the way, Haru," Makoto's voice cut through his thoughts and Haru blinked up at him. "School is almost starting, isn't it?"

Haru looked at him with confusion before shrugged his shoulders. "I guess," he said after a while. If he thought about it, Ren and Ran were excited to start up school again. They did bother him enough during the summer for their homework...

"I work as a middle school teacher during the school year," Makoto continued after a while. Haru nodded. He had said this when they had seen each other for the first time after five years. "So after this weekend, I won't be able to stop by for lunch anymore."

Haru froze, turning his head slowly to look at Makoto, who looked a bit sad despite the smile on his face. He stared blankly for a moment before he turned his head away. "Oh," the word came out of his mouth before could stop himself.

"Sorry, I should have said something sooner, but it had completely slipped my mind until I got a call from the school yesterday," Makoto went on, putting the bento down next to him.

I'm happy for you.

The words slipped through his mind, and Haru blinked rapidly at the train of thought his mind took.

I'm going to a university in Tokyo.

Why was he suddenly thinking about all of this now? It wasn't as if Makoto was leaving him again, yet he felt the pit form deep in his stomach, and he glanced over at Makoto, who rubbed at his earlobe before he began to laugh mirthlessly.

"I guess you're mad I didn't tell you before, huh?" Haru wanted to shake his head frantically at Makoto's words, wanted to kiss his mouth closed so he would stop speaking those awful words. "I'm sorry. We can still hang out on the weekends, Haru."

Haru was startled as he watched Makoto stand up, taking his fireman's jacket off the back of the bench before he shrugged it on. "I have to go now. Thank you for the lunch," Makoto said as he adjusted the jacket. Haru stood up as Makoto passed him. He wanted to run and hug him from behind, wanted to kiss the back of his neck, before turning him around to kiss him properly on the lips.

Don't go.

Was that what he should have said to Makoto all those years ago? Haru wasn't sure anymore. Would he have stayed if Haru had begged him not to leave? Would Makoto have picked him up in his arms the way Haru dreamed he would, before kissing him, telling him that he wouldn't go anywhere without Haru?

Don't leave me.

"Makoto," his name slipped from Haru's lips before he could begin to process what he did. He saw Makoto pause, and for a moment he thought that Makoto heard, he dreaded the possibility yet hoped for it at the same time.

"I'll see you later, Haru," Makoto called to him as he turned around to wave goodbye one last time, before he turned the corner and he was gone.

Haru stared after him even though he couldn't see his figure anymore, before he picked up the bento and made his way to the door. His hand paused on the doorknob and he leaned his head against the door, squeezing his eyes shut.

He couldn't say anything again. It was like Tokyo all over again. Makoto wasn't going to be any further from him, yet this time it hurt so much more than Tokyo.

Why didn't he say anything to Makoto?

Don't go.

Haru wiped the bar down as he watched Rin sigh over his work. Sometimes Rin would come here to work on his translation articles, as a change of scenery, to get away from the stuffy atmosphere of the publishing office.

"Can you spike my coffee, Haru?" he asked as he grumbled over his papers, which were spread all over the place. Haru rummaged through the back before he came out with a coffee flavoured liqueur, pouring it into Rin's half empty cup.

"Swamped?" Haru asked, which only earned him another exasperated groan from Rin. He could feel himself smirk at the outburst. Rin was always swamped with his job, but recently they had let go of another translator, and he suddenly had to deal with nearly double workload as he supervised the two newbies that they hired, with not nearly enough experience or understanding of the English language (and sometimes the Japanese language, Rin had complained drunkenly once over dinner at Haru's) to complete the job properly. It had more often than not brought Rin to the restaurant, always asking for a spike to his coffee as he sifted through paper after paper after red marked paper.

"Honestly, there's no composition in any of these sentences," Rin ruffled a hand through his hair as he growled at the words on the page. Haru glanced down before shrugging. He was never good at English. "I mean really, how does this even make sense?"

"Is it that bad?" Haru asked. He didn't quite get the way English was structured, so he wasn't really sure.

"Oh, sure," Rin's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Let me try translating some of this so you can grasp how stupid this sounds... 'It is easily the best the most recommended way that in the laboratory one such procedure should be taken be careful'." Haru snorted despite himself. He could hear Rin mutter something about the use of excessive words.

"How would you fix it then?" Haru pressed, hoping that the line of questions would slowly pull Rin out of his dark muttering. Whenever Rin got this way, Haru found that he complained more and drank more, rather than actually get any work done. It was understandable, that sentence would push anyone to drink.

"Well," Rin sighed as he began to really analyze it. "Since this is a science instructional book for school... it's a concluding sentence, too... and in this context... 'Following these procedures is the recommended way to take care in the laboratory' would work the best, I think."

Haru hummed at him, feigning impressed. Truthfully, he was impressed, but Rin had done this so many times already, that he had gotten used to it. He watched Rin, now that he was calmer, he'd be able to get work done.

"Ah, Rin-san!" Nitori came out from the back as he put away some papers, locking them in a cabinet underneath the bar. Haru saw Rin sit up, cheeks flushing pink. His eyebrows drew together despite himself; that was new. "Are you working on translations here again?"

Haru noted the bright, happy tone in Nitori's voice before his gaze shifted to Rin, who found a great interest at shuffling his paper. "Y-yeah, well. You know me, always working. A lot," Rin laughed nervously, and Haru could have sworn there were beads of sweat flying off of him. What exactly was Haru missing?

Nitori leaned over the bar as he scanned the papers Rin had spread out, before he fluttered his lashes and looked at Rin from under them. Oh, Haru thought, amused. He was slowly beginning to put two and two together. He wondered if there would be steam coming off of Rin at that very moment.

"I'm sure you'll get through your work pile, Rin-san!" Nitori said brightly, his fingers brushing lightly on the inside of Rin's wrist. Haru kept his expression carefully blank, but he was ready to burst into loud laughter at Rin's face.

"Y-yeah," Rin's sentence trailed off into silence as his cheeks stained with a deeper shade of pink.

"Let me know if you need anything! I'm here to service you with all you need," Nitori said as he trailed off, going to the other side of the restaurant to help set the back room for a reservation party that would be coming in later that night. The slight innuendo hadn't been lost on Haru, and from the way Rin was watching Nitori walk away, it hadn't been lost on him either. Where did Nitori learn that?

Rin's head snapped back around, and Haru fought the laugh that rose in his throat. "Is Ai acting different lately?"

"I have no idea what you mean," Haru lied smoothly. Well, it technically wasn't a lie, if he took into consideration that the only person he was acting differently towards was probably Rin.

"It's just that... he's suddenly been more... forward?" Rin stammered through his sentence as he shuffled his papers nervously. "I-I mean, it's not like I've never noticed him before, but he's always just been... and now he's so - a-and then he has to-" a snicker escaped Haru's mouth, and he covered his lips with his hand as he tried to suppress the laugh.

"Take a hint," Haru mumbled into his fingers as his shoulders began to shake again. Rin turned his head away, grumbling in embarrassment, although the pink on his cheeks didn't fade for a while. He began to work again, and Haru reorganized the alcohol cabinet, bored from the lack of customers.

"By the way, Haru," Rin mumbled over his stack of paper, cup of coffee poised at his mouth. "The Samezuka swim team is having a reunion, and they asked me to invite the Iwatobi guys."

Haru blinked at him. He shrugged after a while. It wouldn't be odd if they went to a reunion with the Samezuka team, considering all the joint practices they had together. "Did you tell everyone else?"

"Yeah, I did," Rin said. "Nagisa is definitely coming, and he's definitely bringing Rei, he said." Haru nodded, shifting his eyes down to his hands.

"That's to be expected," he mumbled as he wiped the bar for maybe the fourth time. He heard Rin sigh at him, and Haru glanced up.

"Makoto said he wasn't going to go if you weren't going," Rin said, watching Haru closely. Haru could feel his chest swell with emotion, and he blinked before he glanced down. "Are you going to go?"

Haru's first reaction was to say no. He didn't like being in a room full of too many people. "Yeah, I'll go," he replied. He had to talk to Makoto. He had to see him face to face. After his inability to speak earlier that afternoon, he wanted to see Makoto again. He had to make things right so that Makoto wouldn't misunderstand. Haru had allowed him to come to his own conclusions, so he had to try again.

"Great, I'll tell Makoto you're coming," Rin raised an eyebrow at him, and Haru threw his rag at him, making Rin squawk. "Oh, you may also want to be on your best behaviour when you go."

Haru looked at Rin, confused at what he said. "Why?" he asked. Wasn't he always on his best behaviour? Aside from being in the presence of large bodies of water, of course.

"Sousuke's coming, too," Rin said, and Haru rolled his eyes, groaning inwardly.

He didn't want to have to deal with that.