Haru's house was a little more hectic than usual; the house smelled of chocolate and fish, a weird combination that would stick in your mind and potentially haunt your senses for weeks to come. Haru however, was calm; he stood over a hunk of bread that he'd just pulled out of the oven clad in nothing but his jammers and an apron, as usual. The lump of bread was warm and smelled of fish- yes, he had really baked a mackerel cake. He is a happy Haru.
Makoto however was too busy to even be appalled by the unsettling grayish white spotted loaf of bread as he struggled to blow up balloons while watching to make sure he didn't burn the chocolate cake still baking in the oven. While Makoto wasn't very competent when it came to culinary arts, he could bake sweets pretty well and enjoyed it a lot.
Makoto heard the oven timer go off mid balloon-blow and ran over to the oven, holding the vision-obscuring object (the balloon) in his mouth as he opened the oven. He grabbed the pan and dropped it with a hiss of pain, letting the balloon fly from his mouth and across the kitchen. Then he felt like a dumb-ass because he forgot to wear the oven mitts just beside the oven. After cursing at his own incompetence, he finally got the cake out of the oven and let it cool next to Haru's mutant fish cake.
Haru walked over to the cooling rack. "You seem cheery today." Haru looked Makoto up and down, tanking note of his adorably disheveled appearance and slightly powdered-from cake flour- cheeks and nose as a small smirk formed on his face. Makoto chuckled in response.
Haru's smile vanished. "Also, Did you break something? I heard a loud noise."
"Uhh...no. I just burned myself a bit."
"Are you okay?"
"Yea. Now I'm just a bit anxious. I can't wait for the cake to cool so I can decorate it. We all agreed on chocolate frosting with white chocolate chips. Oh, and Nagisa blew up my phone, insisting that I needed to cover it in powered sugar for aesthetics or something. It should be great, Haru!"
Haru shrugged. "I'm not really into chocolate. Besides, I have an even better cake right here." Haru took the lump of fish cake out of the pan, turning it over and plopping it onto the cooling rack.
"Haaruuuu! That looks disgusting!" Makoto sighed. While it was disgusting, Makoto did appreciate Haru's...creativity. He also found it kind of cute, oddly enough. "Well, at least you're getting your favorite cake I guess...just please..don't force any of us to eat it."
"I wasn't planning on sharing. It's all for me," Haru said, eyeing his masterpiece with an admirable glint in his eyes.
Makoto laughed. "Okay, Haru-chan," he said as he went to decorate the now cooled, chocolate cake.
"Drop the chan."
Later that evening, the guests arrived. Of course, Rei and Nagisa game as a pair with Nagisa dropping his bags, running up to Haru, and screaming, "Happy Birthday Haru-Chan," right in his face. Rei however, took a calmer approach as he pryed the impossibly energetic blonde off of Haru.
"I wish you a happy birthday, Haruka-Senpai," Rei said with a bow. Haru gave a gentle smile.
"Thanks, guys. Where's Rin?"
"Keep your pants on, we're here!"
'We're?'
Haru was utterly confused until Sousuke stepped into his home, standing tall and intimidating as ever. They both stood and stared at each other, tension becoming tighter by the second. Makoto couldn't take any more of it and took the liberty of trying to cut it himself.
"Hello Yamazaki-Ku-"
Sousuke turned towards Makoto. "Please Makoto, call me Sousuke," he said with a gentle smile.
"Oh, um, Hello Sousuke! Uhh, we weren't expecting you to come, but we're all thrilled you're here, right Haru?"
Haru kept eye contact with Sousuke the whole time. "Nagisa, I said that I didn't want a lot of people in my hou-"
"Right, the more the merrier! Please go make yourselves at home," Makoto said, covering Haru's mouth with a slightly terrified look in his eyes that canceled out his friendly and welcoming smile. After greeting everyone and wishing Haru a happy birthday, Rin and Sousuke finally walked into the living room.
"Haru! Please at least try to be nice. You should be grateful that Sousuke took the time to come and celebrate your birthday with you!"
Haru knew that wasn't entirely true. As of lately, Rin and Sousuke had been getting along pretty damn well, making it obvious as to why they both showed up; they now come as a pair. Haru knew that Rin and Sousuke were best friends and very likely, an item, but it still bothered him a bit.
After a moment of more tense silence, Haru finally answered. "Do whatever you want. I don't care." He walked to the living room where the rest were and Makoto breathed a sigh of relief, although he was still concerned about how Sousuke's presence would affect Haru's mood.
The two walked into the, now lively, living room. The gifts were all placed on the chabudai (small Japanese table) in the center of the room while everyone sat around it, engaged in conversation with one another. Makoto motioned towards the table, asking Haru to sit down with him, so he did, quite closely too. Although, their proximity barely rivaled Rin and Sousuke's; clearly they were indeed an item, judging by how close they sat.
From there they all caught up with one another. Rin and Sousuke told of the happenings at Samezuka Academy and the change in management for their swim team (Nitori's promotion to team captain), while Nagisa talked about Rei's promotion and about how amazing it was that everyone was graduating in mere weeks. Haru and Rin got into petty arguments about driving, specifically who the best was, and Sousuke even told a few embarrassing stories about all the silly stuff Rin's cried about lately. All the while, Haru, the usually anti-social water-fucker, enjoyed spending time with his friends, even Sousuke, so much so that he allowed another gentle smile to appear on his delicate face once more as he snuggled closer to Makoto, relishing in the way his deep voice made his chest vibrate in warm, comforting spasms.
After a while, Nagisa insisted that they eat. After eating the food that Makoto's mom had prepared, it was finally time to move on to Nagisa's favorite part—the cake.
"Ooh oh!! Haru-Chan, can I please get the cake!! And some lemonade, because just water is boring...not offense, Haru-chan!"
"Whatever," Haru said with a shrug. "The chocolate cake is for you guys, remember? I already have my own cake."
Nagisa looked confused until he remembered the awful cake idea that Haru proposed at lunch a few days ago. He sighed. "Haru-chan! You actually made it!?"
Haru nodded.
"That's cool..! And disgusting...oh well, I'll get you a slice I guess." Nagisa went into the kitchen. "Oh! And I'll get all of you guys a slice too!"
Everyone looked at each other, dread and fear prevalent in their eyes. "What!? No! Nagisa wait!"
"What? Oh! No, I'm gonna get you guys chocolate cake! Sorry! Haha," Nagisa said with an apologetic smile. Everyone was relieved.
"Go-time." Nagisa smiled smugly to himself as he snuck to the front door of the house to retrieve his bag and sneak it over to the kitchen. Once he got it there, he took out two items. A jar of white powder and a bottle of liquor. (Clearly, Nagisa is up to some Thugisa type of shit ;)
He laughed evilly to himself as he poured lemonade for everyone, making sure to spike all the drinks. "This should get the party kicking," Nagisa said to himself.
After the drinks were poured, he cut everyone a slice of chocolate cake like he said he would, with the exception of Haru's mutant fish cake. After placing the cake slices on the table with their respective cups of lemonade, he paused to grab the small jar of white powder.
"Here's another birthday present, Haru-Chan," Nagisa whispered to himself with a small grin. He grabbed a generous amount of the suspicious powdered substance, found the cake with the smallest amount of the sprinkled-on powdered sugar that he had strategically begged Makoto for, and sprinkled the flavorless power on the slice of cake, blending it with the sugar as inconspicuously as possible.
After examining the cake slice closely, and placing another one of his birthday gifts in a special hiding place, Nagisa decided that it was ready. "Perfect," he said as he got ready to distribute the cake and drinks.
He did so as normal. He started with the drinks. When Rei asked why the lemonade tasted funny, Nagisa replied with, "Oh, uhh...it's a drink that I made up myself! Does it not taste good...?" Nagisa made his best sad face that always made Rei buckle.
"Huh? Oh, no! Nagisa-Kun it's great!" Rei took a sip of the drink. It was pretty good, but little did he know that he was becoming more and more intoxicated by the second.
Nagisa smiled like the little devil he was. "Great! I'm glad you like it! Now I'm gonna get the cake!" He ran into the kitchen with his ever-lasting energy.
When Nagisa left, Sousuke gave gave Rin a knowing look. Due to certain events at the Samezuka graduation party, they were very well aware that Nagisa had spiked their drinks. However, lucky for Nagisa, they said nothing and Haru and Makoto couldn't even tell.
Rin nodded to Sousuke as if to say, 'this should be interesting...let's see how far this goes.' They both sipped their drinks with a smirk.
Nagisa came in to deliver the cakes, two at a time, being sure to keep the biggest piece for himself. He gave the extra special piece of chocolate cake, complete with his suspicions, white, powdery substance to none other than, Makoto.
No one saw anything out of the ordinary. Everyone ate their cake and drank their 'lemonade', including Nagisa. They all continued to engage in conversation. Rei continuously announced how much he loved the cake, the alcohol kicking in as he became louder and louder, showering Makoto in compliments as his face turned red from blush and dizziness.
Haru on the other hand, became quiet, more so than usual as he began to lean on Makoto more and more, until he fell, head first, into Makoto's lap. This was not very good for Makoto, at the moment.
"Huh..? Haru! Are you okay?" Makoto instantly sobered up as he worried for his boyfriend. He cuffed Haru's face in his hands and Haru blinked slowly, a far out look in his eyes as he mumbled, "I'm fine," and sat up. "I'm just a little tired."
"Tired!? It's only 7:30-"
"Oka-ayy thenn!" Nagisa struggled to talk straight, which made Rin and Sousuke chuckle to themselves, taking pity on all the lightweights around them.
"Le-et's play a gaame! Oh! I brought some stuff!" Nagisa reached into his bag to pull out two more (unopened) bottles of liquor.
Makoto's Eyes widened with shock and horror as he gasped. Rei's expression was equally as mortified. Haru did nothing but stare.
"W-Where did you even get that, Nagisa!?" Makoto asked, looking like a frightened little boy.
"My parents have a room full of this stuff!" Nagisa exclaimed with a way-too-big smile.
Rin smirked. "Okay, Nagisa. What did you have in mind?" Rin crossed his arms and leaned back into Sousuke's chest.
"Hehe, well Rin-Chan, I brought this so we could play, Never Have I Ever."
"Hmm...a classic. Let's play," Rin said with a smug smile etched upon his face.
"What!? Seriously, you're okay with this, Rin?? We should NOT be drinking! It's illegal," exclaimed Makoto, terror etched upon his face.
"Ah, c'mon Makoto. It'll be fun. Don't knock it till you try it," said Sousuke, extremely calm in comparison to Makoto.
"Actually, Nagisa-kun...I have to agree with Makoto. It's too risky. We don't want to do anything we'll regret," said Rei, giving Nagisa an apologetic smile.
After a pout from Nagisa, he finally caved. "Alright Rei-chan. I had a feeling you and Mako-Chan wouldn't do it, so I have an equally fun, and legal, idea."
Makoto breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, what's your idea, Nagisa?"
"Let's play Never Have I Ever...strip edition!"
Makoto's Eyes widened. "Wh-why!? Uh..isn't that a bit uhh..extreme!?"
"Actually...I don't see much wrong with it. We see each other half naked almost everyday. What difference does it make now?" Haru said matter-of-factly.
"I agree with Haruka-Senpai. It sounds like a fun and legal activity. As long as it's not detrimental to our health, I see no harm in this game," said Rei.
"Yea, we're down. Are you scared or something, Makoto? What could you have possibly done in your past to make you so scared of this game?" Rin asked as he raised a challenging eyebrow.
Makoto gulped as everyone looked at him with questioning stares. After enough embarrassment, Makoto finally caved with a long, exaggerated sigh. "Fine...just please, give me a moment. I..uhh...have a headache and I'm feeling a bit dizzy."
Nagisa smiled.
Haru looked concerned. "Are you okay, Makoto? Go get some water."
"Yea..will-do."
Makoto left the room with his hand held to his temple to steady his spinning headache as he waddled away to the front of the house to grab his bag.
Nagisa smiled.
"Okay, so you guys know how to play, right?" Everyone nodded in agreement. "Good!"
"Wait, if we lose, do we have to keep stripping down until we're naked..?" Rei was a bit apprehensive.
Nagisa smiled. "Weeeelll... I don't see why not. We're all men here, right?"
"Uhh...d-don't you think that's a bit much, Nagisa?" Rei began to break out into a nervous sweat.
Rin chuckled. "Oh calm down, Rei. It'll be fine. What's the worst that can happen?"
Sousuke nodded in agreement. "Yea, Rin's right." Sousuke chuckled. "Just don't go getting hard or anything." Rei turned red and the rest laughed.
After about 5 more minutes, Makoto finally showed up. He didn't look much better. His face was red and he had a freaked out expression in his eyes. Haru couldn't tell if it was embarrassment or worry— most likely a mixture of both. What was really peculiar was the fact that Makoto had on a new pair of grey sweat pants, in place of his old jeans (which made Haru upset; they were his favorite pants for rather...perverse reasons). He had his hands far into his pockets, shifting them around awkwardly. He began to panic even more as the many judgemental and confused eyes of his peers locked onto him. "W-what?" He quickly went to sit down awkwardly.
Nagisa smiled.
"Makoto," Haru started.
'They know!' Makoto panicked.
"W-what, Haru?" Makoto asked with a forced smile.
"Are you..." Makoto inhaled nervously. "..cheating?" Makoto breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yea Makoto, you just went to put on another layer, didn't you? No fair!" Exclaimed Rin.
"What!? N-no! I-I just..I-"
"Your Pants are loose. You must have put on a few pairs underneath them, huh?" Sousuke inquired, eyes squinted in suspicion.
"B-but I-I..I'm not trying to cheat! I just..I-"
"Yea, Makoto-Senpai. This does seem rather suspicious," said Rei.
Makoto sputtered in panic, not knowing what to say or how to explain his situation until Nagisa intervened with a knowing smile. "Relaaaax guys. Leave him alone. If Mako-Chan wants to cheat, then fine! We'll make him pay for it later, don't worry."
"Pfft, whatever," huffed Rin. "Let's play then."
Haru looked over at Makoto with genuine concern in his eyes. He knew Makoto wasn't one to cheat. Something was very clearly, wrong.
"Okay!! Who goes first?" Nagisa looked around at everyone until he decided. "Haru-Chan! You're the birthday boy, so you go first!"
Haru sat up and began to think of something he'd never done. "Okay. I've never-"
"No Haru-chan! You have to say it right! 'Never have I ever...' like that!"
Haru looked at Nagisa and rolled his eyes in defeat. "Never have I ever swam any stroke, other than freestyle, in a competition."
"Aww! Haru that's not fair!" Nagisa got into Haru's face once again. Haru grimaced.
"Yes it is, Nagisa. Remember that this is a game. The point is to think of things that everyone has done, but you haven't. Good one, Haruka-Senpai," explained Rei.
Everyone took off a shoe, except for Haru and Makoto, who took off their bracelets (friendship bracelets; who said guys can't wear bracelets?).
"Okay, it's your turn, Rei-Chan," Nagisa said as he threw his discarded shoe to the side.
"Okay...never have I ever...swam any stroke other than butterfly in a competition!"
"Aww, Rei-Chan!!" Nagisa wailed as he was forced to discard yet another shoe.
"That's a pretty cheap blow, Rei," Rin said with a chuckle.
"Well it worked, didn't it? All of you were forced to comply," Rei said with a satisfied smile as he crossed his arms in triumph.
Everyone was now shoeless, with exception of Haru and Makoto who still had one remaining.
"Okay, my turn. And don't worry, mine won't be cheap like Haru's and Rei's. Now let's see..." Rin held his chin in thought for about ten seconds. "Never have I ever..." A sly smile appeared on his face as he finally thought of something. "Never have I ever had sexual dreams about swimming. That includes anything about the pool, team members, etc."
Haru and Makoto took off their remaining shoe, Makoto still shifting awkwardly as he did so. Sousuke took off his jacket and Nagisa growled as he was forced to take off his first sock.
Rei looked at everyone in astonishment. He chuckled nervously. "Uhh...should I even ask w-what you all dreamed abou-"
"No," Makoto and Sousuke both interrupted, a sly smile on Sousuke's face and a panicked look on Makoto's as he shifted again, more violently than before.
Haru remained stoic. "The water."
"Huh?"
"I dreamt about the water."
Rei was confused until he remembered that Haru was indeed a water-fucker. Nice.
"Okay, my turn," said Sousuke. He thought up a rather naughty one, too. "Never have I ever...given head at school."
Everyone, except Makoto and Sousuke, stripped.
"Wow...you think you know your friends," Rin said with a small chuckle.
"Shudup, Rin. You took off your sock too," Haru said.
Makoto blushed immensely, wrapping his arms around his knees as if to curl into an awkward fetal position. Sousuke laughed. Their relationship was becoming even more evident by the second.
Soon, all eyes shifted towards Nagisa and Rei. "W-what?" Rei fixed his glasses awkwardly and Nagisa whistled, looking elsewhere. They too were officially exposed.
"Uhh..HEY I THOUGH WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GET OUR REVENGE ON MAKO-CHAN, RIGHT GUYS!?" Nagisa gave a nervous laugh. "So I'll go next!"
"But we're skipping Makoto's turn," Haru said with a slight frown.
"But he cheated! So...he loses a turn!"
Everyone nodded in agreement. Makoto was to busy rocking back and fourth nervously to really care. He looked up as if he hadn't heard them yelling at him. "O-oh, uhh...that's fine! I have to go to the bathroom anyway."
"Oh no you don't! You're not going to cheat again, are you?" Rin was suspicious once more.
"N-no! I'll be quick..and I'll come back dressed the very same, I promise!"
After a few moments of debate, everyone let Makoto go. He spun around, being sure to face the door as he got up and practically ran to the bathroom.
Nagisa smiled.
A few minutes later, everyone began to grow impatient. "Gee, what's his issue, Haru? You should know," Rin said with a sigh.
"I dunno." Haru looked towards the door. "I'm beginning to worry. Maybe I should go check on hi-"
No! That's not necessary, Haru-Chan!" Nagisa scrambled to stop Haru.
"Why?"
"Because! Uhh...he might be- oh! There he is!"
Makoto walked back in, still flustered and disheveled, but better than he looked before. He sat down, still shifting awkwardly. Haru looked at him, even more worried than before. "Makoto, are you okay?"
Makoto turned toward Haru. "Yes, Haru," he averted his eyes, "I-I'm fine," he said with a forced smile.
Nagisa smiled.
Haru knew that was bullshit.
"Okay! So now it's my turn." He thought of something, specifically to target Makoto. "Hmm...Never have I ever...had sex before school!"
Makoto grimaced. Wasn't Nagisa specifically targeting him? If so, how did he know that he'd did "it" before school? Did he know with whom he'd done it!?
Haru could see the distress in Makoto's eyes as he glanced over at him. He bagan to feel guilty; he felt like he'd betrayed Makoto, by not denying Nagisa when he asked if he and Makoto were dating. All mental struggles aside, Haru and Makoto stripped.
Rin and Sousuke chuckled. Rei looked at the two in disbelief and surprise. Nagisa smiled mischievously. They all sat in a few moments of awkward silence. Haru and Makoto were basically completely exposed by this point.
"We knew it already, anyway," said Sousuke. Rin nodded in agreement. "Let's continue."
And so they did, everyone targeting Makoto specifically because one, he apparently cheated, and two, it was entertaining to watch his exasperated and embarrassed reactions. Throughout the game, the "Never Have I Ever" declarations became even dirtier. They all learned a lot about each other...more than they would have liked to know in some cases being that the declarations covered the topics of alcohol, other illegal activities, hygiene, sex, and other embarrassing topics. Even Haru got a kick out of it, especially when Makoto was forced to remove his shirt, revealing his delicious abs and back muscles. And since their relationship was already exposed, Haru didn't have a problem wrapping his hands around Makoto's bicep in an affectionate manner, snuggling into him as he (Makoto) continued to shift around awkwardly. Perhaps he was just a little embarrassed...
Soon, everyone had stripped down to their underwear, with the exception of Makoto, who conspicuously, still had on his sweatpants. It was a matter of time before someone brought it to everyone's attention.
Rei, clad in nothing but purple briefs, covering himself self-consciously while Nagisa poked fun at him, looked at Makoto. "Y-you know, it's a bit strange..how are you still wearing clothes, Makoto...oh, Senpai!?" Rei didn't mean to sound disrespectful.
"..." Makoto didn't know what to tell them. Truth be told, he was cheating. However, he was not wearing multiple layers; he was simply pretending, saying that he's never done things that he had indeed, done.
Rin began to interrogate Makoto again. "Are you lying, Makoto? Because I could have sworn that I've seen you do some of the things that we just said."
Even Haru was suspicious. While he personally didn't really care about the game, he was positive that something was wrong with Makoto. From the way he made an odd clothing change at the start of the game, to the way he's been shifting uncomfortably throughout the game, Haru worried even more. He also knew for a fact that Makoto would never cheat in anything, including a stupid game like this one.
Nagisa smiled. He had a plan; he'd say something that Haru and Makoto knew was true; something they'd both done, together. "It's my turn guys."
"But you skipped Makoto-Senpai again, Nagisa." Rin said with a confused look on his face.
"I-it's okay! I can't really think of one right now anyway. Go ahead, Nagisa!"
"Thanks, Mako-Chan!" Nagisa thought of how to word his declaration, with a somewhat maniacal smile on his face that sent chills down everyone's spines. "I have another dirty one."
"Oooh, let's hear it," Rin said after taking a sip of 'lemonade'.
"Okay! Never have I ever...had sex.."
Rei was visibly confused. "We've already said that one, Nagisa-Ku-"
"..so rough that you or your partner was sore the next day."
"Well..that's the case for a lot of people Nagisa-ku-"
"Aaand, they were so sore that they could barely walk or swim or do anything!"
Everyone was speechless, eyebrows raised at Nagisa. "That's some kinky shit, Nagisa," Sousuke said with a chuckle. He and Rin both looked at each other with a small smile and a faint blush. "Well it looks like we lost. Do we still have to go completely nu- wait, what?"
Haru stood up, ready to take off his swimsuit. He was a little annoyed that Nagisa had used such a personal and specific thing against him, and that he now knew that his assumptions about he (Haru) and Makoto's relationship were indeed correct. However, everyone knew by now; all six of them were exposed throughout the duration of this freakin' game.
However, everyone, including Haru, was confused. They looked at Makoto. His head was held low in shame and his face was more flustered than they'd ever seen before. He had that freaked out look in his eyes again. Everyone knew that he was guilty; Haru had just proved that. Was Makoto really that embarrassed?
"Makoto-Senpai...?" Rei was now very confused and a bit concerned. He even began to ponder the possibility that Haru had had sex with someone else. 'No, that can't be,' he thought to himself.
Rin looked down at Makoto, beginning to get annoyed at His reluctance. "Yo, Makoto. Haru's standing up. Why aren't you?"
Makoto looked up at Rin from his awkward, overgrown fetal position. "I...uhh...I c-can't.."
Nagisa Smiled.
"Can't what!? What do you mean you can't? You still have pants on! We're the ones who have to go nude! Why can't you just follow the ru-"
Makoto shifted around, stood up, and ran out of the room, scrambling clumsily as he almost slipped on the hardwood floor. "I'm sorry guys, I just can't!" He ran down the hall and into the bathroom once again, slamming the door shut.
Everyone stared at the door in astonishment, mouths agape in surprise and confusion.
"Well...umm..this is awkward. Is Makoto-Senpai alright?"
"I don't know. I've never seen him do anything like that before. He's usually so calm," Rin said.
"Well maybe if you didn't yell at him..."
"Aww c'mon Haru! I just thought he was cheating, I didn't know he would get that embarrassed! Hell, I though you cheated on him for a second.."
Haru turned to look at Rin with what could only be described as a death glare. "I would never do that." His voice was stern and strong, scary even. Everyone was taken aback by it.
Rin scratched the back of his head nervously. "Sorry, Haru. Well...what's wrong with him then?"
"I'm not sure. I'm gonna go find out." Haru began to walk to the bathroom.
"Good luck, Haru-Chan," Nagisa said, an eager tone in his voice that got him a few odd stares from the group. 'Hope you like your birthday gift, Haru-Chan.'