He was right. Haruka knew when he had the inspiration, he can actually finish his art piece with lightning speed and it is 15 minutes before 9. But Haruka felt so deprived of water, he had been working on his art piece as soon as he got home and had never been in contact with any water since. He grabbed the water bottle he kept near his work station just in case and gulp what he thought was just a sip. He felt like dying, the taste of water is different. His senses were all jumbled up due to the oil paint and thinner vapour spreading in his house. No choice.

There he was, in front of the Tachibana's house on a school night bringing his school uniform with him and some supplies and toiletries. He knew it was bad to knock on their door like this, but he had to, he can't stay at home, not when he can't enjoy water. Another hour with water tasting like chemicals he can probably die.

And Makoto by chance opened the door before he could even knock. "Haru?"

"My house stinks, can I stay over?" as curt as Haru can ever be. He hated dallying with anything, as long as he gets the message across to the other, he would not going to sugar coat anything. Pain in the ass as he always thought it would be.

"S-sure, I guess. I see you brought your uniform with you. Wait, stink?"

"Art piece for tomorrow. Are you going somewhere?" Haruka stared at the jacket Makoto held in his hand.

"Ah, well-" Makoto was going to say something but he had a very brief pause as if he changed his mind before continuing his sentence. "No. I was just trying to breathe some fresh air… I, uh, crammed my head a bit with some English words. Rin was here a while ago."

Haruka was amazed by how good and fluent Tachibana Makoto's lie was lately. If not for his telepathy between him and Makoto, he could be fooled by Makoto's innocent smile and overlook his worried expression when he said 'Rin'. Haru wasn't going to say anything. Something did happen between Makoto and Rin, and by the looks of Makoto, Haruka couldn't hardly tell who is at fault. But knowing that Makoto cancelled what he thought he could do to save the situation, most likely it was Rin's. it's not that Haruka didn't care on what had happened, he cared, a lot in fact. But the chemicals played with his head and all he can think of right this moment is water. The crystal clear calm body of water.

"Makoto, can I soak in your tub?" Haruka paused for a while as he realized that on a chilly night like this, the chances he'll get to soak in one is near zero since he will never soak in hot water. But he could always try. "Please."

Makoto tried to be strict and say no, but that glimmer in Haruka's eyes when he said please is something he can't compromise. "Fifteen minutes including drying and changing." He sighed.

Haruka never really stick to the fifteen minutes time, he exited the bathroom after nearly fifty minutes without bothering to dry his hair. He walked into Makoto's room to find Makoto pacing with his phone in his hand. "Haru, dry your hair will you?"

Makoto approached Haruka pulling him towards the bed and took Haruka's towel from his shoulder. It's not like Haruka wanted Makoto to dry his hair, but he likes it anyway. How Makoto's large hands wrap the towel around his head and gently dabbing his hair dry.

"Ouch!" Haruka winced.

"Sorry, Haru."

"Makoto, how long do you want to keep this up? You can always talk to me, like you always do." Haruka was grateful for ever having the telepathic abilities to read Makoto. He always has this ability, but Makoto used it more often than he did.

Makoto stopped silent. He was in conflict. Haruka knew that Makoto never ever wanted anyone to know about what he had been keeping, but he reached his limit. "I-I think I did something wrong."

"With Rin, I felt so overwhelming I- I think I really do like Rin." Without looking at Makoto, Haruka heard that Makoto's voice was shaking as if tears were already pooling. "It just felt so right, but he is just a friend. And should be-"

Haruka grabbed Makoto's chin from below and pulled him till their lips met. That time Haruka was not sure of what he did and what he felt, but this time, he knew all that. He knew he wanted Makoto.

"Makoto, I like you."