Take note: Italic words - flashback

Chapter 6

Christmas was arriving in a week time. Makoto and his family were going shopping to prepare for the event.

"Brother, look at that! It's so cute!" said Ren and Ran as they excitedly wandered around the shopping complex. Makoto can't help but smiled at his twin siblings. They had always been overly excited for Christmas every year. Meanwhile, as Makoto looked around, he saw a phone strap with a snowman figure. On top of the figure, it was written 'BUY ONE FREE ONE'.

Makoto took one of the phone straps from where it was hanging to get a closer look.

'Perhaps I should get one for Rei,' thought Makoto. He smiled as he imagined how happy Rei would be when receiving this gift.

"For Haruka-kun?" asked Makoto's mother from behind, interrupting his son's thoughts.

The question certainly surprised Makoto. Usually when he saw something about buy one free one, the first person he thought of giving it to would always be Haruka. Since when would Rei be the first person that comes into his mind?

'This is just to thank him. Look, he was always supporting and comforting me all these while,' thought Makoto again as he tried to convince himself that there were absolutely no other reasons. He was just feeling grateful, nothing else.

With that, Makoto bought the phone straps home.

After dinner, Makoto stared at the phone straps that he had just bought. He was unsure if giving this to Rei would be the right thing to do. As he was still staring at it, his cell phone rang.

It was Rei calling.

"Rei, what's wrong?" asked Makoto after he picked up the call.

"There is a new restaurant opened. They are very famous with their green curry. Would you like to try it with me?" asked Rei.

Makoto looked at the pair of phone straps for a moment before replying, "Sure."

Rei was so delighted that Makoto once again agreed to come out with him. He rose up his clenched fist, about to prepare for his success on getting another chance to go out with Makoto. On the other side, Makoto was waiting for a response from Rei, but he heard none. Instead, he heard some soft sound like something had dropped. Somehow, Makoto smiled as he could almost imagined Rei's happy reaction on the other side.

The next day arrived. Rei had told Makoto that he would be waiting for him at the stairs nearby his house. Rei had arrived much earlier than expected. He would not want to let Makoto to wait for him again, just like what had happened at the cinema although he was not late at that time.

"Rei," called Makoto from behind.

"Makoto-senpai," greeted Rei happily.

"Did you wait long?" asked Makoto.

"No, I just arrived."

And then they walked down the stairs, walked through a few roads and reached the restaurant. Just when the two walked down the stairs, Haruka came out of his house and walked up of the stairs. He had promised Makoto that he would go to his house today to play with Ren and Ran. Just when he almost reached Makoto's house, he received a call from Rin.

"Haru, are you free today?"

"I am not free."

"What? I almost reached your house. What are you going to do today?"

"I promised to play with Ren and Ran today."

"Eh? Can I go too?"

"Maybe. Ren and Ran are quite fond of you after all."

"Serious? Wait, I almost reached Makoto's house already."

Within seconds, Haruka could see Rin already. Rin then fastened his steps to reach Haruka.

"Are you sure they don't mind me coming as well?" asked Rin.

"What are you worrying about? You are already here anyway, you should give me a call next time before simply making plans," stated Haruka.

"Sorry," said Rin although looking unapologetic. He couldn't be blamed after all. Haruka had always stayed in his house, he hardly went out except being pulled out by Nagisa or Makoto.

"Besides, Ren and Ran are quite fond of you," stated Haruka.

"Why? It was a long time since I have seen them," said Rin as he remembered how cute the twins were.

"Because your name is similar to theirs. Try calling their names and your name."

Rin obediently tried doing so.

"They even said you should exchange name with Makoto. That way, Makoto would sound more like their brother."

Rin laughed foolishly and followed Haruka who walked towards Makoto's house and rang the doorbell. It was Ran opening the door. Ran then immediately exclaimed cheerfully that Haruka was finally here, causing Ren to run to the door and hugged Haruka along with Ran. Rin could obviously tell that these two kids really do love Haruka very much.

"Oh, Haruka-kun and Rin-kun," called Makoto's mother who had just came out from the kitchen.

"Good afternoon," greeted Haruka, followed by Rin.

"Oh what should I do? Makoto is not home right now," said Makoto's mother.

"I will wait for him. Besides, I had promised Ren and Ran to play with them today," said Haruka as he bent down and ruffled the kids' hair.

"But he just left, and mentioned that he would be back quite late. Should I call him back?"

Haruka was surprised. This was probably the first time that Makoto had forgotten that they would be meeting.

"No, it's fine. He might be busy right now," answered Haruka. Rin observed Haruka's expression. Somehow, he could hear that Haruka sounded a little sad through his words.

"Thanks, Rei. I enjoyed today's lunch very much," said Makoto, smiling. Rei simply returned him a smile.

"How did you know that I like green curry?" asked Makoto.

"I heard it from Nagisa-kun," said Rei as he laughed foolishly.

"I see."

Now that Makoto realized, each time where Rei asked him out, he had never encountered any food that he disliked. Even when they watched the movie, it was the perfect genre that Makoto would usually choose to watch. Rei must have had checked with Nagisa about what he dislikes or likes. Makoto looked at Rei and smiled. Before he could say anything, he felt droplets of water on his face.

"It's raining," said Rei and then they both ran into a shop to take shelter. Within minutes, mild rain became heavy rain.

"It's getting so heavy," said the owner of the shop.

"Right," answered Rei.

As Makoto and Rei were still watching the pouring rain, sound of things dropping was suddenly heard. It seemed that the owner had been shifting some boxes around. Makoto and Rei then proceeded to help him carry those boxes. Since they had nothing better to do, Makoto and Rei offered that they would help shifting the things. The owner gratefully thanked them. Makoto then carried all of the boxes into the storeroom, and Rei arranged the boxes accordingly in the storeroom.

Almost about half an hour of shifting the boxes, the owner suddenly voiced up, "Did you all hear something? Sounded like someone calling for help."

Both Makoto and Rei stopped shifting the boxes and silently tried to hear any voices, but they heard none. Makoto then put down the boxes and went out of the shop to listen carefully. He was surprised to actually hear people calling for help.

"Makoto-senpai?" called Rei from behind.

"At the ocean," stated Makoto softly, but loud enough for Rei and the owner to hear him.

With that Makoto rushed out of the store without even saying anything else. Rei guessed that he must have gone to the ocean located in front. He wanted to follow Makoto immediately, but the boxes were surrounding him and he was unable to get out immediately. He quickly kept all the boxes into the storeroom and ran to the ocean, trying to catch up with Makoto.

Ren and Ran had already fallen asleep by now. Haruka looked at the window which was now fully drenched. It was raining heavily outside. He wondered if Makoto had found a shelter outside and stayed dry. He better take care of himself more. After all, he just recovered from his fever. Rin looked at Haruka and he could tell that Haruka was most probably worrying about Makoto right now.

"Haru," called Rin, distracting Haruka's thoughts.

"Why don't you give a call to Makoto? I mean he would be back if he knows you are already in his house," said Rin.

"Makoto never forget when we will be meeting. This is the first time," said Haruka. Rin could totally hear the sadness in his voice this time.

"For him to forget about it, it must be something important…" continued Haruka in a soft voice.

'Perhaps he is with Rei right now,' thought Haruka sadly.

Rei finally reached the ocean to find a middle-aged woman with two kids there. The two kids were drenched and they looked as though they were having difficulty in breathing. The old woman was still shouting for help. When Rei almost approached the old woman, the ambulance just made their arrival. He could hear the woman told them that a young man saved her two kids, and he was now still in the water. He had a bad feeling about this.

"A young man, you said? How does he looks like?" asked Rei nervously as he walked towards the woman.

"He was quite tall. He had olive brown hair and a pair of droopy green eyes," answered the woman.

Rei was now sure that the person still inside the ocean must be Makoto. He was prepared to jump into the ocean as he needed to search for Makoto. If something happened to him, then how should he be able to forgive himself? Not again! Why is Makoto always putting himself into danger just for the sake of saving other people? When Rei was about to jump into the ocean, he was stopped by some other people. They were saying that he can't go in, it's dangerous. Like he cared! As he was still struggling to go into the ocean, he suddenly saw someone standing nearby the ocean, panting.

It's Makoto!

"Young man!" called the woman in joy as she waved to him happily.

"Makoto… senpai..?"

Rei widened his eyes as tears dropped down his face. It was tears of relieved. He promptly rushed towards Makoto and hugged him tightly. He was afraid if he released his hand, Makoto would leave him.

"I was so scared you were gone," said Rei, sobbing.

"I am fine," said Makoto as he stroked Rei's hair.

"It's great that you are fine. I am so glad, so glad…" said Rei as he tightened the hug and repeatedly told Makoto how afraid he was.

"The rain had stopped," said Rin.

Then the door was unlocked. Makoto's mother went to the door as she knew it must be his son returning, but it shocked her to see that his son was drenched from the head to his toe.

"Makoto, you are all wet. Did you walk under the rain?" asked his mother.

"No, mother, that is –"

And then it caught his attention that Haruka and Rin were in his house.

"Haru, Rin, what are you two doing here?" asked Makoto innocently.

"Makoto, don't you even remember that Haru had promised to come to your house today?" asked Rin, he sounded a little angry.

Makoto looked quite surprised to hear that though.

"What? It's today?" asked Makoto surprisingly. He glanced from Rin to Haruka for an answer. Then he continued, "I am sorry, Haru. I have totally forgotten."

"It's alright. Anyway, why were you drenched?" asked Haruka.

"Oh, this? Just now I saw someone almost drowned in the ocean, I went to help."

"What? Sounds like you have a tough day. More importantly, you were fine getting into the ocean?" asked Rin worriedly, but not as worried as Haruka.

"Are you hurt?" asked Haruka who was now standing beside Makoto, searching for any possible injuries.

"Makoto, you need to dry yourself and get a change of clothes," said Makoto's mother as he told his son to go and take a bath first.

"Yes, quickly go shower," said Haruka as he pushed Makoto into the bathroom, leaving Rin in the living room alone as he went to Makoto's bed to help him get a change of clothes.

Rin stared at Haruka and Makoto's back who were now disappearing within his sights soon. He felt his heart tightened. When he looked at Haruka just now, he could fully observe how nervous and worried he was. This was his first time seeing Haruka acting like this.

A few days later...

Rin had asked Haruka out to watch a movie together. Unlike usual, Rin usually leave no silence between them, but today, Haruka could feel that Rin was rather quiet. To be exact, it was overly quiet. Rin almost did not say anything unless it was necessary for him to speak. Haruka felt that something must be wrong with Rin today, but he did not ask. After the movie, they went to get their lunch and Rin started to walk Haruka back.

"Haru," called Rin as the two men stopped in their tracks.

As Haruka turned to him, Rin pulled Haruka towards him so that their lips now met each other. The kiss did not last long, as Haruka had pushed Rin away.

"What are you doing so suddenly, Rin?" asked Haruka.

"What is the problem with this? I am your boyfriend after all."

Haruka said nothing. Yes, Rin is his boyfriend and this is not the first time they kissed so why would he suddenly push him away. He didn't know what he was thinking, but it just felt like he should not do this with Rin. But again Rin is his boyfriend. If he did not want to kiss Rin, who else would he want to kiss?

"Haru, I love you,"

Hearing that, Haruka looked at Rin for a moment before turning his face away.

"I know. Why are you telling me this so suddenly?"

"Because you don't love me," answered Rin. He could see Haruka looking at him again, as if asking him to explain.

"The person that you love is Makoto," continued Rin.

Haruka was confused. Why would he brought Makoto up between them?

"What are you talking? I chose to date you, not Makoto."

"STOP LYING TO YOURSELF, HARU!"

Haruka was utterly shocked at this point. Since they started dating, Rin never once screamed at him.

"You never love me. Your heart has always been with Makoto. I know this from the very beginning, but I… I… I thought that if you chose me, then you must have loved me too. I was lying to myself as well. I am such an idiot," confessed Rin as he covered his teary eyes with his palm.

"Rin, I…" Haru approached Rin and grabbed his shoulder, he felt as though he should try to say something, not sure why would he do that though. Perhaps, he was trying to comfort Rin. Or maybe to prove Rin that he is wrong? Or maybe he just wanted to convince himself that he is not in love with Makoto, he did not lie to himself all these while...

"Think about it, Haru. If both Makoto and I collapsed in our house, who would you go to first? It's Makoto, right. You cared about him more than anything else in the world. I could see it clearly, like when Makoto forgotten that you would go to his house that day, you looked absolutely depressed. I don't think you would be that sad if I was the one to forget us meeting each other."

Haruka thought of Rin's words, it felt so true. Rin was his boyfriend, so why had he been thinking nothing else but Makoto these few days? Deep down, Haruka knew the answer. He was jealous of Rei. They seemed closer as the days went on. He felt like Rei was stealing Makoto away from him.

"It's time for us to wake up, Haru. Makoto loves you too. Go to him."

Haruka looked at Rin. He could see Rin was crying, yet he was still smiling to him.

"Go," said Rin in a soft voice as he avoided eye contact with Haruka.

"Sorry, Rin," said Haruka. He took a last look at Rin before leaving him alone.

He needed to see Makoto right now. He needed to tell him how much he loved him before it's too late. He needed to tell him that he was sorry that he was unable to realize his feelings earlier. He needed to tell him how important he is to him. He ran towards Makoto's house but only found his mother instead. It turned out that Makoto had went to a nearby park so without wasting another second, Haruka promptly rushed towards the said place.

Haruka did not know how long he had run, but not long after, he finally found the person he was looking for.

"MAKOTO!"

Hearing his name, Makoto turned around to the source of the voice and found Haruka not far from him, panting and bending his body as his arms were pressing onto his knees for support.

"Haru?"

Before Makoto could say anything else, Haruka was already in front of him, cupping his cheeks and pulling him into a passionate kiss. Makoto widened his eyes at Haruka's actions. Behind the pair was Rei who finally came back after buying two cans of drinks.

The sound of something dropped had been heard clearly. Makoto then proceeded to push Haruka away as he turned back and found Rei standing there.

"Rei," called Makoto in a soft voice.

Without having the need to say anything else, Rei promptly turned and ran away.

"Wait, Rei!" called Makoto.

Makoto wanted to immediately run after Rei, but he was stopped by Haruka who had grabbed his left arm, forcing him to stay in his place.

"Haru, let go of me," said Makoto.

"Makoto, I love you," confessed Haruka as he pulled Makoto to kiss him again. Once their lips met again, Makoto immediately pushed him away.

"What are you doing Haru? You are dating Rin, so please stop trying to do things that cause confusion or misunderstanding to others."

Makoto knew that something must have been wrong with Haruka. Perhaps he might had a quarrel with Rin. However, what worried him more was Rei. He needed to chase him, tell him that it was all a misunderstanding. When Rei left, he could see his eyes becoming teary, therefore he needed to quickly clear up this misunderstanding. Makoto then promptly ran towards the direction where Rei had left. He was running so fast that Haruka had missed the chance to hold him in place and tell him more.

"REI!"

Makoto almost caught up with Rei yet Rei was still running. Thus, Makoto increased his running speed and grabbed hold of Rei's left wrist.

"Rei, wait for a while. Let me explain."

Rei said nothing.

"It's not like what you think. Haru is just not acting like himself today. Perhaps he had a quarrel with Rin, so erm, I don't know."

"So if Haruka-senpai really did mean what he was doing just now, Makoto-senpai would gratefully accept him, right?"

"What?"

"After all, Makoto-senpai has always been in love with Haruka-senpai since the beginning. I never hold any chance to get even a small position in your heart."

More tears escaped Rei's eyes. Makoto moved his hand closer to help Rei wiped away his tears, but ended up being pushed away by Rei.

"If I don't have a chance, then please don't treat me so kindly! Your actions always made me assume that I might hold a chance towards you."

Makoto was dumbfounded. He had no idea that his actions had been hurting Rei all these while. As he said nothing, Rei took the chance to run away. Makoto could do nothing besides staring at the younger boy running away further and further until he was nowhere to be seen. He then disappointingly walked back home, only to find Haruka sitting on the stairs. When Haruka saw him, he stood up. It looked like he was waiting for him.

"You are back. I need to talk to you," said Haruka. Makoto nodded. Both walked into Haruka's house.

"Haru, are you alright?" asked Makoto as soon as he entered his friend's house.

"Makoto, do you love me?" asked Haruka, ignoring the question directed to him. Haruka could see Makoto widened his eyes when he heard the question.

"What are you saying all of a sudden?" asked Makoto as he looked away, trying his best to avoid eye contact with Haruka. After all, how was he supposed to answer such a question?

"Then, do you love Rei?"

Makoto once again widened his eyes. Why would Haru suddenly bring up Rei in their conversation?

"Rei is just a friend. What is wrong with you today, Haru? You keep on asking me weird questions. Did you get into a fight with Rin?"

"We broke up."

"Eh? Why?" asked Makoto surprisingly. He looked at Haruka, wanting to know the reason.

"Because Rin made me realized that the one that I love is you, not Rin."

"What?"

Makoto did not know how he should react. Was he supposed to be happy? After all, Haruka had just confessed his love for him, right? He loved Haruka, right? He should be feeling so happy and pull Haruka into an embrace and tell him that he loves him too. What was he doing, standing there saying nothing?

Hearing no response from Makoto, Haruka approached him and wrapped his wrist around Makoto's neck as he shortened their distance and prepared to kiss him. However, just when their lips almost met, Makoto turned his face aside, avoiding facing Haruka.

'Eh? What am I doing? Didn't I love Haru?' thought Makoto. He was shocked that he actually turned away, but Haruka did not look shock.

"As expected, you are in love with Rei."

'I am in love Rei?' repeated Makoto in his mind in surprised.

"That's not it. Why do you keep mentioning about Rei in the first place? It has got nothing to do with him," stated Makoto as he pushed away the thoughts in his mind.

"Then what else could be the reason that you are unable to accept me?"

"Sorry, Haru. I feel so puzzled right now, I will be leaving first."

With that, Makoto left, leaving Haruka alone.

~TO BE CONTINUED~

Author's Note : This is probably the best chapter so far. So many feelings and discoveries, but some may think that too many things are suddenly happening in this chapter. I know it took me a long time to update this chapter. I actually wished I could update this story earlier, but I have been quite busy recently. Anyway, there would only be another two chapters left for this story. Hope all dear readers would patiently stick with me until the end.