Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club 1. 01 – Love is like a roller coaster

**Warning: Unbeta'ed. **Grammar mistake, misspelled words, etc.

**This story is the continuation of 'Undying Love' **- it's more like a Prologue actually, it's up to you whether you want to read it first before you read this one or not.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1 – Love is like a roller coaster<strong>

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><p><em>Love is just like a roller coaster. When you're up, you feel like you're on top of the world, but when it brings you down, you feel like you're drowning, and no one can bring you back to the surface (Alyce Ochoa)<em>

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><p>It is obvious that Yamazaki Sousuke likes the one and only one Matsuoka Rin. No, scrap that, that boy is <em>deeply in love <em>with the shark boy. It takes time for Sousuke to be able to get close with someone, but with Rin, he doesn't need that. It is really amazing how his heart still choose the red haired man even though he was left by the said boy over and over. It is clear as the blue sky how he feels towards his best friend—the way he looks at Rin with a gentle expression on his face. No, Sousuke _never _wears that kind of expression to no one else but Rin. He is not the type of people who would smile for everyone in all kinds of events. No, he is not Tachibana Makoto.

But his case is the same with Tachibana Makoto. That brunette treasures his childhood friend, Nanase Haruka, more than anything else in his life. Although he says to everyone that Haru is just his _best _friend, but in reality Haru is _more _than just a best friend. It was painfully clear if you notice the way he looks at Haruka. The way he calls Haru's name, the way he greets his best friend with a soft smile, and the way he stares at the raven haired boy like he is the most adorable person in the world.

But despite all of that obviousness, Rin and Haru remains clueless. They simply brush it off as a friendly feeling, like how you care at your _best _friend. No more than that.

Now, people say that love is blind. Love makes you an idiot. Love defies logic. And that is true. It's beyond amazing how Sousuke treasures Rin like there's no tomorrow, to still have eyes for his childhood friend, despite the said friend leaves him behind over and over again. The first one, Rin leaves him for Iwatobi. The second one, the shark boy leaves him for Australia. It's true that they exchanged letters at first, but after a couple of letters, Rin stopped sending back any letters no matter how many times Sousuke sends him letters. And the raven haired boy finally gave up, deemed that the love of his life was just too busy to even write him a single letter. The third one, Rin leaves him for international stage. He wants to follow Rin, to keep the said boy close at his side, but what could he do? His shoulder cannot be healed. Though two years later, Rin came back to his side and enrolled in the same university.

Right, they are studying in the same university now. The four of them. No, the five of them. Yamazaki Sousuke, Matsuoka Rin, Tachibana Makoto, Nanase Haruka, and Kisumi Shigino.

'_Love is blind, huh?' _Kisumi chuckled bitterly as he watched Makoto telling Haru over and over again that only eating mackerel is not good for his diet.

'_Like I'm one to talk.'_

That's right, Kisumi Shigino is in love with the one and only one Tachibana Makoto.

'_He only has eyes for Haru. He won't notice my feelings.'_

Kisumi averted his eyes. _'I know that he won't, but why can't I give up?'_

Unbeknownst to Kisumi, that is exactly what Makoto and Sousuke was feeling at the moment.

'_This love is impossible. But why can't I give up?'_

—*.*—

"Kisumi!"

Kisumi turned his head and saw Makoto waving at him with excitement. The brunette jogged towards him and greeted him, "Good morning!"

Kisumi smiled widely. "Morning to you too, Makoto! It's rare to actually see you alone!"

Makoto chuckled softly. "Well, Haru is swimming with Rin at the moment."

'_I didn't say anything about Haru.' _Thought Kisumi. But nevertheless, he decided to play along. "It's actually kind of weird when you're coming to campus alone like this."

"We're not always together, you know. We have our own things to do."

"Yeah, right." Kisumi scoffed teasingly. "I _always _see you with Haru. Or see Haru with you."

And then Makoto chuckled again. "Oh, really? Well too bad you can't see us together this morning."

'_No, I'm glad actually.'_

"That Haru, I don't understand why he would go swimming this early in the morning."

A soft smile appeared on Makoto's face as he gazed towards the sky. "You know how Haru is. He is obsessed with water."

'_That expression is so unfair, Makoto. Especially when you wear it because you're thinking of Haru.'_

"So, you didn't go to Haru's apartment?"

"Eh? I still went there. Why?"

'_Huh? He still went to Haru's apartment, though he knew that he couldn't walk to campus together with Haru?'_

"Nothing," Kisumi shook his head. "I was just wondering why you still went to Haru's house even though you couldn't walk with him to campus."

"Ahh…"

Kisumi clicked his tongue when he saw the soft expression on the other's face. Luckily, the brunette didn't realize his displeasure, or wait, was it better if he knew? _'There it is again. It's that smile again. The smile he always wear when he recalls something adorable about Haru."_

"You see, Kisumi, if I didn't go to Haru's house, he would still be in his bathtub until now."

"Eehh? Is he _that _obsessed with water?"

'_I don't understand what you see in him.'_

Makoto chuckled softly. "He _is _that obsessed with water."

'_Doesn't it tire you?'_

"Eh?" Makoto looks at him with a surprised expression.

And like a dumb, the pinkette could only responded with a, "Huh?"

"Tire me? Well, let's see…" the brunette knitted his eyebrows slightly. "It doesn't… well more accurately, I'm already used to it, I guess?"

'_Tire him? Used to it? What is…—Ah!'_

It finally dawned to Kisumi that he just voiced his thoughts out loud.

'_Great, Kisumi. What a stupid mistake.' _Kisumi chuckled softly at the slip up he made and muttered softly under his breath, "It's true, love makes you and idiot."

"Eh? What did you say, Kisumi?"

"Nah, nothing." The pinkette delivered a smooth lie flawlessly. "I was just thinking about how much you love Haru."

The next second, Makoto's face was beet red, though it wasn't very visible. "I – It's not like that, Kisumi… uhm…"

'_Ah, that's right. This guy hasn't come out yet, huh?'_

Kisumi laughed upon seeing the way Makoto had reacted to his words. "Sometimes you act like his mom too much, Makoto."

"Eh? Ah, so that's what you mean, huh…"

'_I didn't though.'_

"What else do you think?"

Makoto laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, I'm just worried about Haru. If I leave him alone, I'm sure he will fall sick immediately."

"Ah, really? I don't think Haru is the type who can get sick easily."

"But he does get sick easily. Every time he swims in spring, he will get sick immediately the next day. I'm glad though that every time it happens he doesn't have a fever."

'_Ne, Makoto… don't you realize that all you talks about is Haru?'_

—*.*—

The door that leads to the university's indoor pool creaked softly.

Sousuke entered calmly as his eyes scanned the whole pool. His eyes locked on a red head almost immediately.

"Rin!" He called out the red head's name, but the latter didn't hear it.

His companion did.

Nanase Haruka glanced briefly towards him—too briefly—and then nudged the red head's arm. He mouthed something, and then the red head turned his head and finally saw him.

"Sousuke!" Rin's face had beamed for a moment before he jogged to Sousuke with a wide grin plastered on his face, that is, until his foot slipped and his face bumped onto Sousuke's chest.

"Whoops, careful there." Sousuke caught him immediately. "This is why I always tell you not to run in the pool, Rin. You can be such a klutz sometimes."

"Oh, shut up!" Rin shoved him hard. "Stop nagging already!"

"And you should dry yourself properly before you clung to me. Now my shirt is wet because of you."

"Geez, I said stop nagging, Sousuke!" Rin rolled his eyes and snatched the towel in Sousuke's hand. "I forgot to bring my towel, that's why I told you to come here!"

"How many times do I have to tell you to check your bag before you leave the house? You always forget something. Like, all the time."

"Sousuke." Rin glared towards his best friend. "Stop. Nagging." He huffed softly. "And I _don't _forget my things _all the time._"

"Yeah, yeah." The raven haired man nodded twice. "By the way, Rin—"

"Rin."

Sousuke's words was cut short, and Rin's attention shifted towards his other friend immediately.

"What is it, Haru?"

The dolphin boy gestured towards the locker room with his gaze.

"Huh?"

Again, Haruka glanced towards the locker room briefly without saying anything.

Not having too much patience, Rin shouted a loud, "HUH?!"

"He wants to change first, Rin." Said Sousuke suddenly. It was amazing how Sousuke can understand what Haru had wanted when he had never spent time with the other raven haired man.

"Huh? Oh… Yeah, yeah, you can head back to the locker room first."

Haru nodded and left them quietly.

"Geez that Haru, he should talk more than using his damn gaze. I'm not a fucking Makoto." Rin grumbled softly when he saw Haru had entered the locker room. "It's hard for me to tell what he's thinking when Makoto's not here to translates him."

Sousuke chuckled. "True. Tachibana is the one who usually translates his expressions and stares." He paused for a moment and then asked, "Come to think of it, why isn't Tachibana here with Nanase?"

"Nah, Makoto have morning classes today, so he couldn't go with us."

"… Nanase has the same schedule as Tachibana, right? Why is it that Nanase doesn't have classes, but Tachibana has classes?"

Rin shrugged. "I think Haru skipped all of his classes for today."

"Ah, I see."

"I better get changed too."

"Ah wait, Rin." Sousuke called suddenly.

"Hm?"

"You should dry yourself properly first before entering the locker room." He reached forwards and rubbed Rin's head softly with the towel.

"Geez Sousuke, stop nagging already!" Rin's words lacked its bite when he had closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of his best friend rubbing his hair gently. "You will turn into Makoto one of these days. Nagging non-stop like a mom!"

And Sousuke only chuckled as a response.

—*.*—

'_I was okay with it at first.'_

Kisumi watched silently as Makoto groaned softly when the brunette noticed that Haru's lunch box only consisted of rice and mackerel.

"Haru! Only eating mackerel is not good for your health!" said Makoto as he gave the raven haired man some of his meat.

'_Really, I was okay with it.' _Thought Kisumi as he continue to munch on his food slowly. _'I was already happy and satisfied whenever I can spend some times with him, albeit Haru was always tagging along with him.'_

"You should give him your vegetables too, Makoto. Rice, meat, and mackerel is not a very good combination too." Kisumi had commented with a flat tone before he took a bite of his own onigiri.

'_I'm getting greedy.' _The pinkette watched again as revelation had dawned on Makoto's face and the latter started to give some of his vegetables to his best friend.

"Right! Eat some vegetables too, Haru!"

'_In the middle school, I was happy and satisfied with just being able to watch him from afar. And then I was in the same class with Haru. Getting close to Haru means getting close to Makoto, too. At that time, I treasured every minutes I spent with Makoto. It continue that way until college, but now…'_

Kisumi turned his gaze away from Makoto and Haru who sat in front of him.

'_Now I can't be satisfied with only staying as his close friend.'_

He chomped the last bite of his onigiri quietly.

'_I know I'm getting greedy, but I can't help it, can I? I want him to love me. I want him to mine! …But that is impossible. He only has eyes for Haru.'_

Kisumi stood up as he finished his onigiri and said, "Then Haru, Makoto, I'm going to class first!"

"Eh? B – but Kisumi…!"

The pinkette ignored Makoto and left the two alone.

"… the class doesn't start until another hour…" the brunette glanced towards his best friend. "…right?"

Haru shrugged. "Leave him alone. He has been in a bad mood since we started eating. I don't know why, though."

"Eh? Is he? I didn't notice…"

'_Of course you wouldn't, Makoto.' _Kisumi wasn't too far ahead of them when they had started discussing his _odd _behavior. He heard all of their conversation.

'_You wouldn't notice other's feelings because you only focused on Haru, Makoto.'_

Kisumi sighed heavily. _'It's hard staying as his close friend. I have to watch his lovey-dovey act with Haru every single day.'_

He stopped walking and crouched down suddenly, hugging his knee in the process. _'I'm tired of seeing his soft expression whenever Haru is with him. I'm tired of seeing his gentle smile which is only, only, for Haru. I'm tired of seeing him interacts with Haru.'_

'_I'm really getting greedy.'_

—*.*—

"And so, if you connects this one here with the one over there…"

Kisumi yawned quietly. The class had been going on for over an hour, and he was getting tired of it. His eyes traveled downwards and locked on a brunette head immediately.

'_Makoto always sits in the front row lately, is his eyes getting bad? If so, he should change his glasses.' _Thought Kisumi as a smile made its way towards his face. He watched Makoto with a content feeling, until he noticed the brunette poked the not-so-obvious sleeping Haruka beside him.

'_Oh, Haru also sits in the front row, huh? Maybe Makoto forced him to accompany him. I didn't notice him, though.'_

Kisumi smiled bitterly. _'That is, until Makoto poked him.'_

The pinkette sighed softly and turned his gaze away from the two people who sat in the front row.

'_Don't get all lovey dovey in class, Makoto. It's tiresome to watch.'_

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><p>—*.*—<p>

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><p><strong>To be continued...<strong>

**A/N**: For those who read my YuuRam fanfic Taisetsu na Hito, please be patient. I know I haven't updated it for months, but I'm sorry, I'm kinda stuck in that story. I lost all motivation because I don't know what to write (but don't worry, I'm going to finish it no matter what). And here I am, writing one completely different fanfic. *sigh* I'm really sorry.

Oh, and my chapters usually around 2k words, sometimes 1k, but it's really rare, and never more than 2k. I prefer lots of chapters than lots of words for one chapter, but I can change my style if you prefer lots of words for one chapter.

Anyway, please tell me what you think of this fic! It will give me more motivation if I get lots of reviews XD


	2. 02 - The Boys and Their Unrequited Love

**Chapter 2 – The Boys and Their Unrequited Love**

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><p><em>You don't have to do anything to cheer me up, just your presence is enough (Tachibana Makoto)<em>

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><p>"Oi, Rin."<p>

"Hm?" Rin stopped walking when he had heard someone called his name. Judging from the low and deep voice, he knew it was Sousuke.

He made no move, though he did turn his head to see his best friend fast walking towards him. "What, Sousuke."

"You don't seem pleased to see me." The taller man said as a small amusing smile made its way to his lips. "Don't you have club activities today, Rin?"

"No, we don't. The coach got sick so the pool is closed for a week."

"And? Why are you in a bad mood?" asked Sousuke. He paused for a moment, and a small grin appeared on his face. "Ah, could it be that you're sad because you can't get in the pool? What are you, Nanase?"

"No fucking way." Rin denied immediately.

"Then what? You're in your period?"

"Sousuke." Said Rin warningly.

"Okay, fine. I won't tease you anymore, so why don't you tell me?"

Rin sighed heavily. "Fine. Come to my apartment. I will tell you."

—*.*—

Rin had opened his apartment door and made his way inside whilst Sousuke politely murmured a soft, "Sorry for intruding." It was more like a habit actually, since he often came to Rin's house back in their childhood days.

"Yeah." Rin responded shortly to Sousuke — of course, he responded out of habit, too — and said, "Just come in and close the door."

Sousuke did as he was told and closed the door. He had left his shoes neatly in the _genkan_ and followed his friend to his living room.

It wasn't the first time Sousuke had come to Rin's apartment, but he was thrilled all the same when Rin had invited him to his house.

Rin tossed his bag to the sofa and sat beside it. He popped his shirt's buttons while Sousuke grew panic by the seconds — though he didn't let it show on his face — and casually said, "Why are you stripping, Rin?"

"Huh?" The red haired man continued to pop his shirt buttons and remove the said shirt, revealing his favorite black tank tops. He looked up to see his friend's face and laughed softly. "What, Sousuke. You're disappointed that I wear tank tops under the shirt?"

"Well, I kinda miss seeing your topless body." Said Sousuke with a smirk on his face, totally masking the panic in his mind.

"You pervert."

"Only for you."

Rin laughed hard at that. "That's too gay, Sousuke."

Sousuke shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Well, you started it." He sat on the couch beside Rin's bag and removed his jacket. "So? What is troubling you?"

"Ah, yeah, about that…" Rin trailed off and sighed softly.

"What?"

Again, the maroon head sighed again. "Well… you see… it's just that… Gou told me that someone had confessed to her…"

"Pfftt!"

Rin turned his head and glared at his best friend.

Sensing the other's glare, Sousuke immediately put on an innocent face and said, "Ah. Sorry about that. Don't mind me. Please go on."

"Like hell I can after you just laughed at me!" Rin yelled loudly as he stood up and kicked Sousuke's leg.

"Ouch, Rin. Stop being so violent."

The red head rolled his eyes. "What was that for?!"

Again, the raven haired boy broke into another small chuckle.

"Sousuke!"

"No, I'm sorry, I just thought that… pfftt… What are you, her dad? Hahaha!"

"I'm just worried about her, dammit!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's just plain funny how you're worrying over things like this. Normally an older brother won't even bother about his sister's life you know."

"Well, Gou is cute —"

_'__So are you.' _Thought Sousuke.

"— so I'm worried if she picks a bad guy as her boyfriend."

_'__And I'm worried if you feel grossed out once you know my feelings.'_

"Rin, Gou is old enough to pick her own boyfriend. And she's a smart girl, so you don't have to worry _that much, _okay?"

"You just emphasized on the '_that much', _didn't you?"

"I did."

"What. You find me annoying that I worry about her _that much?_"

"I do." Replied Sousuke with a big smirk.

"You jerk!" Rin kicked Sousuke's leg again. "I definitely won't let Gou date you."

"Hahaha! How mean!"

_'__Rest assured, Rin. You're the one I'm interested in. Not that you ever know that.'_

—*.*—

Kisumi eyed the whole classroom silently.

The teacher had given them a surprise quiz that day, and the whole class were struggling to think about the answers. Some students were waiting for the perfect moment to cheat. Some were thinking that it was too much trouble to think about the answer they didn't know while trying to cheat were impossible since the teacher kept her eyes keenly on the student. Kisumi and Haruka were one of those latter students, while Rin and Makoto was the type to think about anything they remembered about the lecture that could led them to the answers.

The pink haired boy glanced at Sousuke. _'Ah, he's writing something on the paper.' _ He glanced at his own answer sheet and sighed. _'Well it's Sousuke. That guy is smart.'_

_'__This is stupid. Should I just hand my paper?' _Kisumi stare at the still white sheet on his desk and smiled bitterly. _'I practically only wrote my name on the paper.'_

He sighed quietly. _'Let's wait for someone to hand their paper first.'_

His eyes traveled around the classroom again. And like always, his eyes landed on Makoto who sat in the first row. _'Ah~ isn't he working hard… I can totally see it even from the back like this.'_

He continued to gaze on the brunette dreamily until his eyes met with the teacher's. Kisumi averted his gaze awkwardly and opted to stare at the question on the white board instead.

After quite some time, Kisumi glanced again at the teacher and sighed in relief when she was looking at the other direction. _'Woah, this is bad… She might think that I was eyeing her to check if I can cheat…'_

But like a kid who couldn't learn from experience, Kisumi's eyes once again traveled around the classroom. He avoided the front row this time, since he knew that his gaze might meet with the teacher's again. He couldn't land his eyes on Makoto again, so this time his gaze landed on Sousuke, his only friend who didn't sit in the front row.

_'__Ah, he's done answering the quiz? Oh, he's watching someone.' _Thought Kisumi as he focused his gaze on the taller raven haired man. He followed Sousuke's gaze and he realized that the other's gaze fell upon a red haired man. _'I see. He's eyeing Rin. Again.' _A small smile made its way on Kisumi's face. _'Really, that Sousuke. If you continue to stare at Rin with that intense gaze, he might realize your feelings sooner, you know…'_

_'__Then again, Rin is pretty dense when it comes to himself. If I remember correctly, there was this girl back in our school who liked Rin, but he didn't realize it until he moved to Iwatobi.'_

_'__And Sousuke, don't stare at Rin so openly like that. Be more discreet. Aren't you afraid that someone might realize? Well, I realize it already, but what if others realize it too? Geez, that Sousuke.'_

_'__But well, I might be staring at Makoto like that, too.'_

Kisumi sighed quietly and gazed on the window blankly. _'I have to move on. Yeah, I know. Just… how?'_

—*.*—

"Ah, I think I might flunked that quiz…" Makoto said dejectedly after the teacher had collected the answer sheet.

"Me too." Haru replied shortly. "Don't worry about it, Makoto." Well, he couldn't care less about the quiz since he can graduate just fine as long as he continue to bring good swimming records to the university.

"Geez, Haru… You might be okay with failing one or two subjects, but I can't afford that!" Makoto whined as he dragged his feet out of the classroom.

Haru tailed after the brunette as he watched his friend's shoulder slumped slightly. _'Ah, he's sad. What can I say to make him feel better?'_

"Makoto." He called the other's name, hoping to get his attention, but then he realized something.

_'__What? What did I want to say?'_

Makoto paused his steps after he had heard Haru calling his name. He waited for the other's next words, but when nothing came, he turned around and saw the raven haired boy stared down on the floor with his bangs covered his eyes. Makoto couldn't read his expression.

"Haru?" Makoto grew concerned. "You okay?"

Haru bit his bottom lip and looked up. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he paused and turned away his head.

_'__Ah, that expression… It's the expression he wore when he had come back from Australia with Rin.' _Makoto's eyes widen in realization, and then a genuine smile made its way onto his face. _'I see. He wants to cheer me up, huh?'_

"Haru." The brunette called his friend's name gently. "You don't have to do anything to cheer me up, just your presence is enough."

The raven haired boy's cheek tinted with a very faint blush – nevertheless, his best friend still saw through it. "Stop joking. Stupid Makoto."

Makoto laughed softly. His worry about the test had gone away.

_'__I wasn't joking though, Haru.'_

—*.*—

"Ma-ko-to!" Kisumi hugged Makoto from behind suddenly.

The brunette staggered for a bit due to the impact, but he managed to steady himself before he sighed. "Kisumi, don't scare me like that!"

"Yo, Haru!" Kisumi greeted Haru next without paying any attention to what the brunette had said before.

"Wait, did you just ignore me?!" Makoto sighed again. "And anyway, let go of me already!"

"Eh? Don't wanna!"

"Kisumi! Come on, this is embarrassing!"

"Eh… But _onii-chan_, I like hugging you!" replied Kisumi as he pressed his body closer to the taller man's back and whispered the word _onii-chan _to the other's ear with a low voice.

"Gah Kisumi! Don't copy my siblings!" said Makoto as a faint blush formed on his face.

Haru glanced towards his two friends and sighed inwardly. "Kisumi."

"Yes, Haru?"

"Let go of Makoto already."

"Eh? Don't wanna!" the pink haired guy whined again childishly. "Oh could it be that… you're jealous, Haru?"

"Huh?" The raven haired man knitted his eyebrows together upon hearing the word jealous.

"You know, Makoto's back is really, really comfortable. Wanna try? Oh, have you tried it before?"

"Ki – Kisumi! Don't say such embarrassing things!" Makoto struggled out of Kisumi's grab, but it proved to be quite hard since Kisumi linked his arms tightly around his neck.

"Just… let go of him already, Kisumi." Said Haru with a stern voice.

"Alright, alright!" the pink haired man finally stopped clinging to the brunette's back. "Ah, that's right Makoto, play basketball with me sometimes!"

"Eh? Ah, sure."

"You should come and watch too, Haru! Makoto is _really _good at it!" said Kisumi as he bumped shoulders with Haru.

The quiet guy glared shortly at Kisumi. _'You're too close!' _Displeasure was evident on his face. But since he didn't voice it out loud, of course the other guy didn't understand.

"What are you talking about, Kisumi? You're better at it!" said Makoto as he scratched his cheek.

"Eh… But you know Makoto, when you play basketball and you get all sweaty, you look _really _sexy. You know, since you have great muscles and all. And when the sweat trickled down on your face as you're panting to regulate your breath…" The pink haired guy paused for a moment and sighed erotically. "It's _totally _sexy."

"Wh – what…" A deep hue of red spread across Makoto's cheek.

"Oh, you look adorable too when you blush like that!"

"Wha – Kisumi!" Sensing the growing heat on his face, Makoto covered his blushing face using his hand. "Geez, stop teasing me already!"

And Kisumi only laughed as he watched Makoto got flustered because of him, while Haru was only watching them with a blank face.

—*.*—

Kisumi groaned softly when his phone alarm rang loudly. His right hand reached over to the small table beside the bed, trying to grab the rude phone for waking him up. When he found it, he slid the phone to snooze it and went back to sleep.

Five minutes later, the phone rang again, forcing its owner to wake up. But Kisumi didn't want to wake up yet. He only slid the phone again and ignore it.

_'__One more snooze…'_

Little did he know that he just turned off the alarm when his finger pressed on the stop button accidentally.

The pink haired guy woke up several minutes later when he felt something wrong.

_'__Why is it not ringing again?'_

He grabbed his phone and glanced briefly at the digital clock on the screen. His eyes went wide with shock. "Shit, I'm late!"

He got up from the bed, grabbed some random shirt and a black pant and quickly changed his clothes.

"Good thing I already packed my notebooks yesterday." Kisumi grumbled as he grabbed his phone and shoved it in his bag. Without even bothering to fix himself up, he quickly went out of the door and locked it hurriedly.

Since his apartment was close to the campus, he managed to arrive at his class 15 minutes later with a ragged breath. The professor glared at him silently when he entered the classroom late and with a bed hair on top of that. He smiled apologetically at the professor and then quickly sat on the furthest row, right beside Sousuke.

"You just made it to his blacklist, Kisumi." Sousuke snickered as the other settled beside him. "Congratulations."

"You jerk." Said Kisumi as he was still trying to regulate his breath properly. "Damn Sousuke. You only nice to Rin."

Sousuke only scoffed as a reply.

"Alright, clear up your table." The professor said with a loud voice from the front of the class with a terrifying face. "Leave only a blank sheet and a pen on your table. I decided to give a _small _test."

The whole class bustled with a soft grumble and whispering. Some of them, no, most of the class glared at Kisumi silently since he was definitely the cause of the sudden test. Once the professor got in a bad mood, he would give the students a test out of nowhere.

"Now you bring down the whole class with you." Sousuke sighed as he cleared his table. "Nice move, Kisumi."

"Well… sorry?" The pink haired guy ripped a single sheet from his book. "It's not like I _plan _to be late."

"Yeah, right." Said Sousuke with a sarcastic tone as he rolled his eyes. "Don't come to the class when you're already one hour late!"

—*.*—

The one thing Kisumi always did whenever he gave up on answering the test was: looking around. Instead of leaving the classroom early, he would wait for someone to submit their answer sheet before he handed his and leave the class. Usually his eyes would fall on Tachibana Makoto immediately, but no, not today. The guy always sat in the front row, near the teacher's desk, and honestly he had had enough of the professor today, with him being late and all. He wouldn't want to suddenly meet eyes with the professor's while he was searching for Makoto's back, wouldn't he?

So he directed his gaze at the nearest person who sat beside him: Yamazaki Sousuke.

_'__Ah, he's staring at someone again. Rin?' _thought Kisumi as he watched Sousuke intently. Seconds after, a small smile formed on his lips. _'Yeah, he's watching Rin. What, is he done with the test already?'_

The pink haired guy peeked briefly at the other's answer sheet and his eyes widen in disbelief. _'Holy shit, his answer sheet is full with scribbles!' _He glanced at his own paper and sighed. _'I can only answer two from ten questions while the guy beside me answered it all in such a short time. What is he, a study maniac?'_

He chuckled at his own thought. _'From butterfly swimmer to a genius, huh? Or was he always this smart?' _He backtracked for a moment, recalling again his elementary days with Sousuke and Rin. _'Hmm… maybe? I didn't pay too much attention about his academic at that time… _

_'__Oh but, his obsession with Rin remains the same, huh? Even after all these years, the only one he calls best friend is only Rin, although that guy had left him for… what, three times? Doesn't it hurt being left behind so many times? What is he, a masochist?'_

Kisumi glanced again at Sousuke with a blank face plastered on his face. _'Now Sousuke, if you don't stop staring at Rin with that intense gaze of yours, he's gonna find out, you know?'_

Sousuke blinked once, twice, and then he turned his head and glared at Kisumi. "Huh?"

"Huh?" Kisumi replied stupidly.

"What did you mean?"

"What?" Kisumi answered with a small voice. "And anyway Sousuke, you should keep down your voice."

"What did you mean by that, Kisumi?!"

"What's going on over there?!" the professor raised his voice as he strode over to us.

"Um, no prof – "

"Nothing is wrong." Said Sousuke with a cold voice as he stood up and gave his answer sheet to the professor before he left the classroom with a scary look on his face.

_'__Did I just voiced my thought out loud? …Ah, I did, didn't I?'_

* * *

><p>—*.*—<p>

* * *

><p><strong>To be continued...<strong>

A/N: Hey all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Well I know it's late, but whatever :)

Anyway, please follow and **give me a feedback**! It'll motivate me more :D


	3. 03 - Coming Out

**Chapter 3 – Coming Out**

* * *

><p><em>Being by the side of your most beloved person is one of the greatest privileges of being friends (Yamazaki Sousuke)<em>

* * *

><p>"Sousuke!"<p>

The raven haired man looked up in time to catch the thrown soda can at him. He glanced briefly at the red haired man who had thrown the can at him and muttered a quiet, "Thanks," as he opened the can and gulped it down.

"You made quite a scene back then in the class." Said Rin as he sat beside Sousuke and drank his own soda. "The professor looked upset."

"Whatever."

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"What." Rin kicked the other's leg playfully. "It's not like you to be secretive."

Sousuke rolled his eyes – ignoring his best friend.

"What, you really don't want to tell me?"

Sousuke sighed inwardly. "I told you it's nothing, Rin."

"Fine. I'll ask Kisumi instead." Said the redhead as he stood up. But before he could step away, the raven haired man grabbed his hand and yanked him back. "Wha – Sousuke!"

_'__No. Kisumi might tell him if he asks.' _Was the only thing in Sousuke's mind when he had heard that Rin was going to ask Kisumi instead. He knew once Rin wants to know about something, he won't let it go until he knew.

So, he decided to lie.

"It was about my shoulder." Sousuke paused for a moment, thinking of another sentence to complete the lie. "He was joking that my shoulder might never heal."

"What?!" Rage was evident on his face. "I'm going to search for him and punch his face real hard."

"Nah, it's okay, Rin." Said the taller man as he grabbed the other's hand firmly before he let the redhead had the chance to stand up.

"It's _not _okay, Sousuke!"

"He was just joking."

"Still, he shouldn't joke about that kind of thing!"

"Yeah. I know. Thanks Rin, you're a _sweet_ friend." Teased Sousuke with a slight smirk on his face.

"Wha..?! I – I'm not sweet, Sousuke you bastard!"

Sousuke laughed and then ruffled the redhead's lock affectionately. "But seriously Rin, you don't need to get mad at him _for me._"

_'__And it was a lie after all.' _Added Sousuke inwardly.

"Tch. Fine." Rin sighed as he fixed his hair with a scowl on his face. "But if I hear him says it next time, I will really punch him. And Sousuke, don't play with my hair!"

—*.*—

Having to hear the professor rambling randomly in an evening class about things nobody cares about are the worst.

That's what Rin thought.

_'__No one understands what you're saying, prof. Just give it a rest already.'_

He glanced at the professor and deemed it was safe for him to check his phone secretly under the table.

**You have 1 new message from Nitori Aiichirou.**

_'__Oh, I got a message.' _Thought Rin as he clicked the notification and read it.

**Nitori Aiichirou: Good evening, Rin-senpai! How are you? Do you mind if I come over sometime? There's something I'd like to tell you.**

_'__It's from Nitori… What, he wants to meet me? Hm, let's see… Saturday is okay, right? Yeah, we can meet after the practice.'_

He typed a quick reply and clicked the send button before he pocketed his phone again. But after a few seconds, his phone vibrated and he pulled it out again to read the reply from Nitori.

**Nitori Aiichirou: Saturday it is then, senpai! I will be over at your door around 3.**

_'__What, he really wants to come over? Isn't it better if we meet outside?'_

**Me: What, you want to come over to my apartment? Do you even know where it is? Why don't we just meet outside? Won't it be your first time in Tokyo?  
>Nitori Aiichirou: You told me your address after you just moved in, senpai. :D And actually I want to asks for your advice, so meeting outside is kind of… uncomfortable?<br>Me: What, you want to ask for love advice or something?  
>Nitori Aiichirou: Well, something like that.<br>Me: Fine. Then bring over some food. And don't come before 3. I'll be still in the pool at that time.  
>Nitori Aiichirou: Okay, senpai! :)<strong>

A small smile made its way on Rin's lips. Truth be told, he was _kind of _excited about meeting his first junior in Samezuka. After Rin graduated from high school, they have never met again, although they still kept contact with each other.

_'__I wonder if Nitori is taller now.' _Thought Rin as his smile turned into a smirk. _'I bet he's not.'_

—*.*—

Rin gasped for air as he removed his googles after he had finished his lap. He looked up and asked the underclassman who timed him. "How was it?"

"Hmm, still no improvement…"

"Shit!" He cursed softly as he pulled himself up and sighed. He scanned the whole swimming pool and noticed that Haru was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Haru?"

The underclassmen looked puzzled. "Huh? Haru?"

"Ah… I mean, Nanase."

"Oh, Nanase sempai?" The underclassman looked around briefly, looking for the raven haired man before he said, "I don't know. Maybe he's in the shower room?"

_'__What? He's done already?' _thought Rin as he scratched the back of his head. _'That's rare.'_

"Maybe. I'll go check it." Said the redhead as he left the swimming pool and went to the shower room.

—*.*—

Rin opened the door to the shower room and stepped inside. There are twelve shower stalls in the room, and each stall covered with a curtain. Some of them were occupied, and the redhead was wondering if one them was his friend.

"Haru? You here?"

No answer.

"Tsk. So he's not here, huh…"

Right before Rin deemed that his friend wasn't there and decided to leave the room, one of the curtains opened and Haru walked out of the shower stall with a towel around his waist.

"What, you're here! Why didn't you answer?!"

The raven haired man only shrugged and simply said, "Too much trouble."

Rin rolled his eyes at the answer. "And you're done showering already? Usually it would take you another 30 minutes to shower."

Haru ignored the redhead as he went to the locker room and grabbed a plain blue shirt from his bag.

"Wait, you didn't even toweled yourself!" Rin tailed after his friend. "Dry yourself properly before you wear your clothes, Haru."

"Yes, mom." Replied the dolphin boy with a flat tone. Though he said yes, what he did was the opposite.

A tick mark appeared on Rin's head. "Who are you calling mom, huh?!"

Haru glanced briefly at Rin and smirked.

"Haru you bastard, don't show me _that _smirk!"

But again, Haru only ignored him as he zipped his bag and left him. "I'll go first, Rin."

"Huh? Wa – wait…!"

*door closes*

"What the hell…" Rin frowned, clearly unpleased with the other's behavior. "Why is he in such a rush?"

—*.*—

Yamazaki Sousuke was staring at the plain white ceiling in his apartment as he recalled what had happened in the class earlier.

'_If you don't stop staring at Rin with that intense gaze of yours, he's gonna find out, you know?'_

Sousuke sighed inwardly as he rolled on his bed. _'What the hell, Kisumi. He better not telling Rin about this.'_

He reached out for his phone and dialed Kisumi's number.

He waited for a few rings, until Kisumi finally picked it up. _"Sousuke? What is it?"_

"Don't tell Rin anything."

_"__Huh?"_ The line was quiet for a few seconds until Kisumi finally said, _"Oh, about your feelings? Okay, I won't tell him anything."_

"You _really _cannot tell Rin anything."

_"__I know, I know."_

"Don't blurt out things like you did to Tachibana and Nanase either. They might tell Rin instead of you."

_"__What? When did I ever blurt out things to Makoto and Haru?"_

"You told them about my shoulder injury, you dumbass."

_"__Eh? Did I? …Ah, I did, I did! Sorry, Sousuke…"_

"Whatever. Just, don't tell anyone this time."

_"__Okay…"_

After he heard the last 'okay' from Kisumi, Sousuke was about to hang up before he heard Kisumi said _'Ah wait, Sousuke!' _in the other line. He sighed inwardly and responded with a short, "What?"

_"__Why don't you just confess your feelings to Rin?"_

"What."

_"__It's not like you to just keep your feelings bottled up inside.'_

Sousuke rolled his eyes although he knew that Kisumi wouldn't be able to see it. _'But I'm the type who just keeps quiet about important things!'_

"What do you know about me, Kisumi? Why do you think I didn't want Rin to know about my shoulder injury?"

_"__Eh? You didn't tell Rin about your shoulder?"_

"No, you idiot! …He found out on his own."

_"__Why didn't you tell him?"_

"… I'll tell you when I feel like it. Bye."

_"__Eh? No –"_

*click*

Sousuke tossed his phone carelessly to the side, and it fell to the carpet with a soft thud.

_'__I don't like it. How did Kisumi find out about my feelings?'_

His mind backtracked on the conversations he just had with Kisumi on the phone. _'When he asked me why I didn't confess my feelings, the tone he used was… kind of sad. I wonder why.'_

Sousuke frowned suddenly when an ugly thought entered his mind. _'Don't tell me he also likes Rin?!'_

—*.*—

Haru glanced briefly at the digital clock displayed on the screen of his phone. For the first time, he blamed the water for tempting him and making him forget the time.

He entered the cafeteria and scanned the whole area to search for a certain brunette. Once he found him, he were already fast-walking towards the brunette as he called the other's name. "Makoto!"

The brunette looked up from the book he had been reading when he heard someone had called his name. "Ah, Haru!"

"Sorry, did you wait long?"

"No." said Makoto with a gentle tone as he shook his head. "Ah Haru, you didn't dry your hair properly."

"There's no time for that. Let's go."

"No." Makoto grabbed the other's hand right before Haru could step away. "What if you catch a cold because of it?" He opened his bag and pulled a towel. "Good thing I brought a towel with me."

"Makoto."

"Yeah?" the brunette responded shortly as he began to rub the other's dripping hair with the towel.

"We should go now. I promised Ran and Ren to cook for them."

"Hm?" Makoto looked at his watch briefly and gasped. "Ah, that's right. They will arrive here in the next hour."

"Let's go. We have to buy the ingredients first."

"Eh? Ah, but, your hair…"

"We have no time for that."

"But you can't just walk around with a wet hair, Haru! It's inappropriate!"

"Stop lecturing and just come with me." Said Haru as he pulled Makoto's hand.

—*.*—

"Stop lecturing and just come with me."

Makoto glanced at Haru's hand on his own and a smile adorned his lips.

"Haru, it's not the first time Ran and Ren come to visit us, you don't have to be _this _excited."

"I'm _not._" Haru murmured quietly. "And this is _the first time_ they come here on their own without your parent with them."

"Ah yeah, that's true. But they're not a kid anymore, you know. They're in middle school now."

"A middle school kid is pretty much still a kid."

"They will get mad if you say that in front of them, Haru."

"Then I won't."

They entered the supermarket near Makoto's apartment. The brunette grabbed a handcart and tailed after Haru immediately who was already picking out some fresh vegetables.

"Eh? You're not going to cook mackerel today, Haru?"

"I'm making green curry today."

"Eh? Not mackerel?" said Makoto with a surprised tone.

"What, you don't want it?"

"No, no." the brunette shook his head and gave his gentle smile at Haru. "I love your green curry, Haru. I'm sure Ran and Ren loves it, too."

A _really _small blush formed on Haru's face, though it disappeared as fast as it had appeared. He turned away his head, pondering on which potato is good for the curry.

—*.*—

Rin was eating his favorite brownies in his favorite couch while watching his favorite movie with his favorite junior until the said junior confessed something disturbing to him nearing the end of the movie.

"Actually senpai… I like Momo-kun."

At first the redhead was jokingly responded with, "Yeah, I know. He can be a cute little brother sometimes."

Nitori fidgeted on his seat. "No, senpai… I love him, like… _love._"

Rin's mind went blank as he tried to process what his junior had just say to him. After a long full minute, he finally sighed, put down the brownies, and faced the silver haired boy beside him. "Nitori… Well…" He sighed again, heavier this time, and added, "What do you want me to say exactly?"

Nitori looked more nervous than before, and he only shook his head while murmuring a soft, "I don't know, senpai…"

So, he just left it at that.

The air in the room was filled with awkward silence between them. They were fully aware that the movie had ended, but none of them made a move to change the movie or pull out the DVD. They let the credit rolled as the ending music filled the room with its soft tone.

And finally, _finally, _Nitori stood up from the couch as he murmured, "I think it's time for me to go back, senpai."

"Huh? Ah… Yeah."

Rin grabbed the remote in the table and turned off the TV while his junior wore his jacket and grabbed his bag.

Nitori opened the door of Rin's apartment, and said to the redhead with a sad smile on his lips. "I hope you're still willing to become my text buddy in the future, senpai."

And just like an idiot, the only response that he could give was only, "Ah… Yeah…"

The door was closed, but Rin was still frozen in the _genkan _even after minutes had passed.

_'__I'm a terrible senpai. I couldn't even lie to him that it was okay for him to like Momo. But then again, I really didn't know what I should say!'_

* * *

><p>—*.*—<p>

* * *

><p><strong>To be continued...<strong>

A/N: FYI, the **pairing in this fic is: MakoHaru, SouRin, MakoKisu, and a bit of SouKisu in later chapters.** (can you guess which one will get the happy ending and sad ending?)There won't be Momo x Nitori in this fic.

Please kindly leave a review for me :) It will motivate me to write more :D

And to **superjunior101315**: Right? I always like the idea that Kisumi has a one-sided love for Makoto! And of course a jealous Haru is a must! In later chapters :D


	4. 04 – Phone-calls

**Chapter 4 – Phone-calls**

* * *

><p><em>It is actually really sweet when someone stays up late to talk to you (Tachibana Makoto)<em>

* * *

><p><em>'<em>_Haru and Rin are absent today as well, huh…'_

That was what went through Kisumi's head as he stared contently at the person sitting in front of him.

He was enjoying his lunch break with the love of his life, Tachibana Makoto, when the brunette's phone rang loudly.

The brunette flashed him an apologetic smile, and then answered the call. "Yes?"

_"__Makoto?"_

Makoto's face lit up, and a small-excited blush appeared on his cheek. "Haru! You called me first!"

At that, Kisumi's happy face fell for a second before he covered it up with a huge grin again.

There was a pause in the other line for a few seconds until Makoto heard, _"… Yeah, I guess."_

Makoto's smile widened for a bit. "And? What is it, Haru?"

_"__I'm going to spend all day in the pool. Don't wait for me."_

"Huh? All day?"

_"__There's a competition a month from now."_

"Ah, I see." Makoto looked dejected for a moment. "Okay then, Haru-chan!"

_"… __Drop the –chan already."_

Upon hearing the same reply from the dolphin boy, Makoto's smile came back again. He waited for the other to end the call before he looked up to see Kisumi and said, "Ah, I'm sorry about that, Kisumi"

"No, no." Kisumi shook his head. "I'm actually surprised that Haru is using his phone."

"Ah, yeah, since he entered college, he uses his phone more often."

"More often, huh…" Kisumi sighed. "I texted him several times but he never replied though."

"Ah, Haru hates texting."

"Eh? Why?"

"Too much trouble." Answered Makoto as he mimicked Haru's tone perfectly.

The pink haired boy snorted. "That's so like Haru!" He laughed hard before an idea popped up in his mind suddenly. "Oh, Makoto!"

"Yeah?"

"I just thought of something good!" He excitedly leaned over the table to get closer to the brunette. "You know, a new cake shop opened near the station."

"Oh, really?"

"The girl who sat behind me in the class was talking to her friends that the cake shop has a really delicious chocolate cake! Wanna try?"

"Chocolate cake?" Makoto's face lighted up when he heard the words. He nodded excitedly and replied, "Sure!"

Kisumi got up from his seat and said, "Okay, let's go!"

"Ah, wait, Kisumi!"

"Hm?"

"Well, actually…" Makoto paused for a moment as he scratched his cheek with a sheepish smile. "Can I bring my siblings too?"

—*.*—

"I'm home!" said Makoto as he opened the door of his apartment. There were some rustling sounds before two middle-schooler kids came to sight and pounced on Makoto simultaneously.

"Onii-chan!"

"Welcome home, onii-chan!"

The brunette laughed as he called, "Ran, Ren!" with a gentle voice. He hugged them for a few seconds before he said, "Hey, Ran, Ren, wanna try Tokyo's most-delicious-chocolate-cake?"

Ran looked up to see her older brother's face with excited eyes. "Chocolate cake?"

"I wanna try! I wanna try!" said Ren immediately. He was as excited as his sister was.

Makoto chuckled and patted their heads. "Then, is it okay if we try the cake with my friend?"

"Your friend?" Ran tilted her head to the side. "Who?"

"Haru-chan?" asked Ren, voicing the continuation of his twin's question.

"No," answered Makoto as he shook his head. "Come on; let's head down to the lobby. I'll introduce you to Kisumi."

"Kisumi?" Ran and Ren said the name simultaneously. "Kiss me?" They giggled excitedly. "Who?"

"The name sounds indecent."

"True." Ren agreed. "Ki-su-mi."

"Yeah?"

Ren jolted when he heard someone behind him responded. He turned his head quickly and saw a tall young man – though not as tall as his brother – with a pink hair, smiling down to him.

"Ah, there you are, Kisumi!" Makoto sighed. "I thought you went ahead of us."

"Eh, no way, Makoto! I'll always wait for you!" said Kisumi with a wink. He crouched down and showed a big grin at Ran and Ren. "So they are your siblings, huh. I'm Kisumi, nice to meet you!"

Ran nodded. "I'm Ran, and this is Ren. Please take care of us."

"Sure!" Kisumi got up and said, "They have manners."

"Of course." Makoto laughed shortly. "Why wouldn't they? They're already a middle-schooler."

"Eh, really?!" Kisumi's eyes widened. "So you guys are older than Hayato, huh…"

"Hayato?" Ran tilted her head to the side cutely. "Who's that?"

"Ah, I have a younger brother too. His name is Hayato. I will let you guys meet sometime. You will be a great older brother and sister to him."

Upon hearing that, Ran's and Ren's eyes were shining with excitement.

And just like that, Kisumi easily gained approval from Makoto's siblings.

—*.*—

*ding-dong*

Rin mumbled some incoherent words. He did not want to get up from the bed. Not for anyone who was in the door.

*ding-dong*

The redhead covered his ears with his pillow as he continues to pretend that he was not at home.

*ding-dong*

_'__What the hell. Just go away already!'_

*ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong*

Rin cursed as he _finally _willing to get up from the bed and walked quickly to the door. He opened the door with anger and glared at whoever who dared to disturb his alone time.

That person turned out to be Sousuke.

"What the hell, Sousuke!"

"Hey, Rin." The other grinned without care that he was pissing off his friend. "What'cha doing?"

"… The hell. You're here just to ask me that?!" He sighed and moved aside. "Whatever. Come in."

"Actually I was gonna leave if you didn't open the door for another five minutes." Confessed Sousuke with a sheepish grin. "But you answered the door."

"What."

"I went to the pool today."

Rin clicked his tongue. He knew where this would be going.

"You weren't there." Sousuke sat beside Rin. "Why?"

"What why? I'm just taking a break, that's all."

"You have competition a month from now, Rin."

"I know sheesh. Stop acting like my mom."

Sousuke arched one of his eyebrows. "It's not like you to take it so lightly. What happened?"

" … Nothing."

"Tell me."

The redhead sighed. "I don't know if I can tell you."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It's… Nitori." Rin answered vaguely. He was trying to drop the conversation, but Sousuke's gaze on him made him unable to do that. "It concerns Nitori's secret. I can't tell you."

"Nitori, huh…" Sousuke paused for a moment. "Nitori's secret… By secret, do you mean the fact that he likes Momo?"

Rin looked at him with unbelievable eyes.

"So I'm right." The raven-haired man sighed. "It's not really a secret, you know. It was clear that he likes Momo _that _way."

"How did you…"

"You're just dense. Maybe only you and Momo who did not realize that. The other members pretty much figured it out."

"… I see…"

Sousuke observed his best friend for a while, and then he asked, "And?"

"What?"

"How did you finally realized that Nitori is after Momo?"

"Well…"

"Did Nitori tell you himself?"

Rin fell silent at that.

"I see. So Nitori told you that he likes Momo. And?"

Rin sighed. "And it ends there. I didn't know what I should say to him when he told me that he likes Momo."

"What if he told you that he likes Gou?"

"I would beat him to a pulp."

"I see. So you can't accept that he loves another man?"

"Well… I don't really know… I still think of Nitori as my dearest junior. And I don't despise him even after hearing that. It's just that… I don't know what words I should say to him when I know that he have no hope with Momo."

"Do you want him to give up on Momo?"

"Well… yeah. He has no hope."

"I don't think so."

"Huh?"

"I think he should confess before deciding to completely give up on Momo."

"Sousuke, the one Nitori likes is another guy and Momo on top of that. That guy is clearly straight."

Sousuke sighed. "Rin. You just can't accept the fact that Nitori is gay."

The redhead opened his mouth to retort, but no sound came out.

"See? I'm right, aren't I?" Sousuke sighed. "I thought you're an open-minded person, Rin."

"Well, I…" Rin paused for a moment, looking lost like a little puppy. "I thought so myself." He looked up and stared at his best friend's face. "Are you fine with that, Sousuke?"

"Yeah. I don't really care."

"I see…"

"It's not really uncommon these days anymore, Rin. You know that there are lots of gay books and magazines out there, and people who worshipped them."

"Yeah, I know…" Rin sighed. "Well, if you're fine with it, then I'm fine with it, too."

The raven-haired man snorted. "That's so half-assed."

Rin kicked the other's leg. "The hell, you just snorted at me! You don't snort at Rin Matsuoka!"

"I just did." Sousuke replied with a grin. _'I'm glad that he's back to normal.'_

—*.*—

After Sousuke had left, Rin scrolled through his contact list, looking for his junior's name. After he found it, he called the said junior immediately.

_"__Hello?"_

"Hey, Nitori!"

_"__Eh? Rin-senpai?"_

"Yeah. Why are you asking? Didn't you see the caller's name?"

_"__Ah, I answered without looking."_

Rin laughed shortly. "What's up with that?"

Nitori chuckled. _"It's rare for you to call me, senpai."_

"Yeah, well… about that… I'm sorry, Nitori."

_"__Eh? No, it's okay, Rin-senpai. Just texting is okay."_

"No, I mean… about last week… sorry, Nitori."

_"__Ah? Oh…"_

"You see, Nitori…" Rin inhaled deeply. "I think you should confess to Momo."

_"__Eh? What? Why?"_

"Well, I talked about this to Sousuke – ah, I'm sorry about it, but it seems that he already knows that you like Momo – and he told me that me that you should confess first to Momo."

_"…"_

"… uh, Nitori?"

_"… __You talked to Yamazaki-senpai about this?"_

"Uh… yeah? I am sorry. Are you mad?"

_"… __No."_

"Liar. You _are _mad."

There were some sniffing sounds from the other line.

"Shit, Nitori are you crying?"

_"__*sniff* *sob* Rin-senpai, you're mean!"_

"Wait, why? I'm sorry that I told Sousuke, but he's totally okay with it!"

_"__Really?"_

"Yeah."

_"__Are you, Rin-senpai?"_

"Yeah."

_"__*sniff* *sob*"_

"What the hell, Nitori! Why are you crying again? Come on; stop crying for a moment, I'm confused as hell here!"

_"__No, senpai. I – I'm just glad."_

"Huh? About what?"

_"__I – I regretted that I came out to you so openly like that, but I also glad that I did, because you're still willing to become my senpai after knowing that I'm gay."_

"Don't talk as if you're lower than the others. If you like men, then so be it. Don't pay attention to what others think, Nitori, not me, not even your parents, your siblings, or your other relatives."

_"__I'm the only son, senpai."_

"Yeah. Well, I didn't know. Whatever."

_"__When I came out to you, you looked absolutely bewildered back then, senpai."_

"I _did_ not."

There was a soft chuckled from the other side of the line. _"You did senpai."_

"Whatever."

—*.*—

Haru had just finished his long-bath-time when his phone rang loudly in the bedside table. He stopped stroking his wet hair and let the towel hanged on his head as he strode calmly – not rushing at all – to reach his phone. He flipped open his blue phone and answered the call immediately without looking at the caller's name, knowing that only one person would call him at the middle of the night.

_"__Ah, Haru-chan."_

There was only one person who was still calling him that.

"Stop adding the –chan, Makoto."

_"__Ah. Oh, sorry, Haru. I tend to forget."_

The dolphin boy did not respond anything to that since it was the same lie the other had always told him.

_"__Why are you still up at this time, Haru?"_

_'__What about you?' _was what Haru was thinking, but he did not voice it aloud out of nature. Then at the next second, he realized that Makoto was not there in front of him to read his expression. He was about to voice his thought when Makoto spoke first.

_"__Ah, I was trying to sleep, but I couldn't. I kind of hoped that you also haven't slept yet, so I called you."_

Haru pressed his lips together into a thin line. In the end, Makoto could read him just fine even without seeing his expression.

_"__Were you staying up this late just to soak in the tub, Haru?"_

Again, Makoto was answered with deep silence. If it were anyone but Makoto, that person would have long hanged up by now, thinking that Haru had fallen asleep or simply ignoring him.

_"__You did, didn't you?"_

"…"

_"__Ne, Haru-chan."_

There it was again; the tone. Makoto always used the same tone whenever he wanted Haru to confess his fault, and the only way to talk it out was to confess honestly. "… I did."

He could hear the brunette sighed in the other line. "Again, Haru-chan? Even though it's summer right now, you can't just soak in the tub all night, Haru-chan! You would get sick!"

Haru rolled his eyes. He had done it many times and he has never gotten sick because of it.

_"__Don't roll your eyes on me, Haru-chan."_

Of course. No one but Makoto would know that he had just rolled his eyes. "… Just stop adding the –chan, Makoto."

He could hear the soft smile Makoto was making.

"So? Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?"

_"__I told you already, Haru, I couldn't sleep."_

"… Did you watch horror movies before sleep?"

_"__No."_

"Did someone tell you scary stories?"

_"…"_

Haru sighed. He knew it. "Who?"

_"__Kisumi."_ Answered Makoto quietly.

"Were you with Kisumi?"

_"__Yeah, he told us about Sadako when we tried the new cake shop near the station"_

The raven-haired boy arched his eyebrow at the other's answer. "Us?"

_"__Ah, we went there with Ran and Ren. They had already gone home immediately after that. The chocolate cake was really delicious, Haru! We should go there sometimes."_

"Nah, just go with Kisumi."

_"__Eh, why?"_

"I bet there are only girls there."

_"__Well yeah, but – "_

"Moreover, I'm not really a fan for sweet things."

_"…"_

Haru could picture the dejected look on Makoto's face when he heard no response. He sighed and said, "Fine. Just sometimes, okay?"

_"__Yeah!"_

Again, Haru could picture the brunette's brightened face. He could not help but to smile despite himself. It was okay, wasn't it? No one was there to watch anyway.

_"__Ah, did you just smile, Haru-chan?"_

Haru's _small_ smile froze. It was beyond him how his best friend even knew about that. Did he secretly put a hidden camera in his room?

"I _did_ not."

The other man chuckled softly in the other line._ "Yeah, you did, Haru-chan."_

"… Just stop adding the –chan already. I have reminded you that for three times tonight, Makoto."

_"__Yes, yes, Haru."_

There was comfortable silence stretched out after that as Makoto and Haru were trying to feel the other's presence through the phone call. The seconds ticked by and turned into minutes, until the silence was broken when Makoto said, _"It is actually really sweet when someone stays up late to talk to you. Thank you, Haru."_

And just like always, he was replied with silence.

* * *

><p>—*.*—<p>

* * *

><p><strong>To be continued...<strong>

A/N: I'm sorry I'm late :( College had started, and I'm overwhelmed with the assignments. I'm sorry.

And yeah, it's not my idea that chocolate cake is Makoto's favorite. It's canon. (It was stated in the drama CD, if you're wondering)

You see the big box down here? Yeah, please leave a review for me. It's okay if it's short or long, harsh or not, I accept any kind of reviews.


	5. 05 - The Popular Gays

**Chapter 5 – The Popular Gays**

* * *

><p><em>You don't know what you've done to me, shark boy (Yamazaki Sousuke)<em>

* * *

><p>Nanase Haruka's eyes glanced back and forth from the black board to his watch impatiently. The lecture had been going on for more than two and a half hour, and he could wait no longer to get in the pool. There was always some days where he just wants to spend all day in the pool, and today was one of those days.<p>

He tapped his finger with impatience as he stared holes on the professor's back.

"Haru." Makoto whispered quietly. "Just a few more minutes, okay? Stop looking so impatient."

The raven-haired boy sighed internally and then glared at Makoto, as if it was the brunette's fault that the professor had not ended the lecture yet.

"Come on, _Haru._" His best friend whined softly. "Don't glare at me like that. It's not my fault."

The boy still stubbornly glared at his friend until the professor _finally _finished writing up unknown things in the board and announced that class was over. He got up from his seat instantly after the lecturer had left the room. There was only one thing in his mind: _'I want to get in the pool quickly!'_

"Ah, Haru!" Makoto grabbed his arm before the dolphin boy could run into the pool. "Wait, I'll go swim with you today."

Haruka sighed internally for the second time. It seemed that today was not his day – everyone seemed to be in the way with his want to becoming one with the water. He sat in his seat again, fidgeting all the time while he waited for Makoto to pack his things.

After what seemed like an eternity for Haru but seconds for Makoto, the brunette got up and smiled to Haru charmingly. "Shall we go, Haru?"

The raven-haired boy nodded once and got up. They almost reached the door when a girl suddenly popped out of nowhere in front of them and started talking to them without a pause.

Haru glanced at Makoto, silently asking if the girl was _really _talking to them or not, because the girl's eyes was casted down – she did not look at them at all. _'And what did she say?'_

Makoto nodded, understand what his best friend's glance meant. "Uh, Moriyama-san?"

The girl looked up upon hearing her name. Her face was as red as a tomato.

_'__Why is her face red? Does she have a cold?' _thought Haru as he inspected the girl's features. _'But she doesn't look sick to me.'_

"Um, what did you say? I'm sorry, we didn't quite hear it." Said Makoto with his sweet smile.

The girl gasped softly, and – maybe out of embarrassment – replied with a loud voice, "C – can we talk for a moment, Tachibana-kun?"

"Eh?" Makoto blinked once, and then twice, before he responded. "Uh, sure." He turned to Haru, smiled apologetically, and said, "I'm sorry Haru, seems like we can't go to the pool together. You can go first."

_'__Ah, so it's a confession, huh?' _thought Haru as he nodded silently. _'He really gets a lot of those, huh. Since our sophomore time in high school, I think. Whatever. Not like it concerns me or anything.'_

—*.*—

"Oi, Sousuke! Hurry it up!" said Rin as he kicked his friend's leg. "Just pack your damn books quickly!"

"Shut up, Rin!" replied Sousuke with a lazy grumble. "I told you to head to the pool first –"

"C – Can we talk for a moment, Tachibana-kun?"

Sousuke paused mid-sentence. He turned his head to the source of the voice.

"Woah, that girl's voice is really loud, huh." Commented Rin casually. "Maybe she's nervous?"

"Could be." Said Sousuke as he shrugged half-heartedly. He focused his attention back to pack his things.

"Do you think she's going to confess to Makoto?"

_'__Isn't it obvious?' _was what Sousuke was thinking, but he chose to reply with a short, "Maybe."

"Come to think of it, Sousuke. You got a confession too yesterday, right?"

Sousuke groaned internally. He knew where this would be going.

"Was she cute? Beautiful?"

"Cute, I guess." Answered Sousuke nonchalantly.

"Oh? Did you accept?"

The raven-haired boy sighed. "I rejected her."

"What? Why?"

"Does it matter?" mumbled Sousuke quietly as he got up from his seat. He kicked Rin lightly with his foot. "Now get going, shark boy. Let's go to the pool."

"What the hell is with the 'shark boy'?" protested Rin as he glared at the taller man.

"Your teeth." Sousuke pointed his index finger at Rin's mouth. "It's like a shark's. It's scary."

"The hell, Sousuke!" Rin kicked the other's leg again, hard. "Don't insult someone else's teeth! It's a sensitive matter!"

"Well, yeah, only to you, Rin."

"Sousuke!"

—*.*—

It was in the late evening when their additional class had ended. Everyone was tired since the teacher had practically crammed most of the syllabus into one class since the exam was just a week over. There was only one thing inside everyone's head: take a bath and go to sleep quickly.

But apparently, a pink-haired guy named Kisumi Shigino had something different in mind.

"Hey, everyone!"

Rin groaned aloud when he noticed what Kisumi was thinking, while Haru and Sousuke only glared at him with cold looks and Makoto smiled at him tiredly.

"Let's go drinking!"

"No way!" said Rin almost immediately with a scowl. "What the hell, Kisumi! Go drink alone! It's nearing exam time and you want to go drinking?! What the hell are you thinking?!"

"Now, now, Rin." Makoto meddled immediately when he sensed dangerous aura from the red-haired boy. "No need to get so hostile."

"I'm not going." Said Haru indifferently.

"Me too." Said Sousuke.

"Eh? Why?" Kisumi whined as he pouted. "Why not? We should relax before exam! And it's friday! Let's just forget everything and have fun!"

"I'm too tired to move." Replied Haru with a blank face.

"I'm not in the mood to drink." Said Sousuke, joining the 'no' side immediately.

"Eh, are you sure, Sousuke?" Kisumi moved closer to the taller raven-haired man and whispered, "I'll tell Rin on you."

He glared at the pink-haired man, ticked that he would use _that _to threaten him. He exhaled a deep sigh and finally said, "Fine."

"Yay! Sousuke agreed!" Kisumi cheered loudly. "How about you, Makoto? You're coming, right?"

"Eh? Ah, I'm not really against the idea."

"Okay, Makoto in! You too, right, Haru?"

Haru glared at Makoto, silently protested, _'Why the hell did you agree?'_

With no need to say, of course Makoto had caught on the meaning of the silent glare. "Eh? But it's alright if you don't want to come with us, Haru."

"No way, you don't want to go home alone, right, Haru? Then, you should come with us!" said Kisumi as he flung one of his arm over the dolphin boy's shoulders. When the silent boy only sighed and nodded wordlessly, he turned and faced the only man who had not agreed yet.

"Well, looks like you have to agree as well, Rin."

"No way. I'm not going."

Kisumi snickered. "Why? Can't hold your liquor?"

One thing Rin Matsuoka hated all his life was being looked down upon. It irked him to no end. "I _can _hold my liquor better than you, Kisumi!"

"Then why don't you show me?"

"Bring it on!"

—*.*—

After their second drinking place, everyone had agreed to take a short breather in Kisumi's place since his place was the closest one. But instead of a break, they went drinking again at his place, with Kisumi spent all of his remaining money to buy boozes and snacks for them. At first they didn't want to drink again since they weren't sure if they can make it back home if they drink more, but after lots of persuading and, in Sousuke's case, threatening, they gave into temptations drank again.

At one point, Kisumi had asked Haru about his first love experience, and the dolphin boy told him, "When I was in grade school, my parent took me to climb a mountain nearby. That was where I had my fateful encounter. I could not look away. That intensely beautiful, positively vibrant, sparkling and pristine… waterfall."

Before realizing that Haru was talking about a waterfall, Kisumi had believed that it was a beautiful older woman. He got really disappointed after that. It made him think how Makoto could fall in love with Nanase Haruka. But the more he thought about it, the more pissed off he became. Therefore, he decided to drink more booze to free his mind from those ugly thoughts.

However, unfortunately for him, he got a high tolerance for alcohol. He could not get drunk easily. So before he depress himself even more, he decided to observe his friends instead.

Matsuoka Rin was a bad drunk. He clung to Sousuke all the time after the alcohol took over his mind. But Nanase Haruka was worse. He started talking about mackerel all the time after their second drinking sessions ended. He practically forced them to worship mackerel. Tachibana Makoto was an okay drunk. He fell asleep after he got drunk.

_'__It was cute of him.' _Thought Kisumi.

Yamazaki Sousuke was an enigma, though. He did not seem drunk at all after all those booze he had drunk. Sure Kisumi could hold his liquor well, but Sousuke was far better than he was. While Kisumi's face was already red and he had started hiccupping, the guy hadn't shown any signs that he had spent five hours drinking alcohol. His face still looked healthy, he could still walk straight without bumping or stumbling over anything, and he was definitely still in his right mind. It made Kisumi wonder how many hours they need to make Sousuke completely drunk.

_'__It's probably impossible to get him drunk.' _He focused on observing the raven-haired man more._ 'So there are actually some people like that, huh. There's no trace that he had been drinking at all, well maybe except his breath.'_

An hour after their third drinking sessions in his house, Rin had passed out. He fell asleep soundly on Sousuke's lap. Haruka had passed out much earlier, and Makoto soon after that. It leaves only him and Sousuke who was still awake. And since he had already knew about Sousuke's feeling towards Rin, the taller guy showed his affection towards the red-haired boy on his lap openly without care. His hand played with Rin's hair all the time, never leaving those red locks, and his eyes glued at the reddened face of his best friend, even while he drank.

Truth to be told, Kisumi envied him. He could not bring himself to run his hand through Makoto's brown hair due to his fear that the guy would wake up because of his touch. Makoto was a light sleeper when he was drunk. He would wake up after only a few minutes before he fell asleep once again. He could only watch Makoto's face as he drank over his sorrow of his unrequited love until alcohol took over his mind completely and shut it down.

—*.*—

Sousuke ran a hand over Rin's hair and caressed it gently. He was aware that Kisumi was watching him, but he paid no heed since the guy had already found out about his feeling. It would be no use to mask his feeling now. He was planning to go home soon, but he could not move his hand away from Rin's soft hair. At one point, he started to braid the other's hair until he heard a soft thud in the room. He became alarmed immediately. He scanned the room quickly, only to found out that it was the sound of Kisumi passed out on the floor. The guy had finally fell asleep.

He exhaled a deep sigh. _'Guess it's time for me to go home, huh.'_

He shook Rin's shoulder, trying to wake up the other, but seemed like it was of no use.

_'__It will take 15 minutes to my apartment from here… Shall I take Rin with me?'_

He scanned Kisumi's room once again, and he decided that he couldn't bring himself to sleep in such a dirty room – with boozes and snacks spilled all over the place – and he couldn't leave Rin there either. He decided to give Rin a piggyback ride until his apartment.

Halfway through to his apartment though, his back started to feel sore because of Rin's weight, and he took a short break on the bench in front of a minimarket. Once it did not feel sore anymore, he continued his way. He had a hard time grabbing the key from his pocket without dropping Rin, but he managed somehow and made his way inside successfully. He placed the red-haired boy on his bed carefully, removed the other's jacket, unbuttoned his shirts, and zipped his pants before covering the boy with the blanket.

He watched Rin's chest moved as he breathed, and he ran his hand once again on those soft red locks as he whispered, "You don't know what you've done to me, shark boy."

He did not have a guest futon in his apartment; neither did he have a couch. He was tempted to sleep on his bed with Rin, but he decided against the idea since he was afraid that he would wake up with a hard-on and grossed the other out.

Therefore, that night, Yamazaki Sousuke – for the first time – slept on the hard floor with a stupid grin on his face, knowing that tomorrow night he could sleep with Rin's scent on his bed.

* * *

><p>—*.*—<p>

* * *

><p><strong>To be continued...<strong>

**A/N:** Seems like Sousuke starts calling Makoto's and Haru's first name after their little saba-game (the latest OVA – if you haven't watch it, go and watch it!). In the earlier chapters, Sousuke still calls Haru and Makoto as Nanase and Tachibana, but from here on, he will call them Haru and Makoto. I'm too lazy to update the earlier chapters just because of their names. Sorry I'm not sorry. I wrote it before the latest OVA came out.


	6. 055 - Extra Chapter

**Extra Chapter 5.5 – How Shigino Kisumi Falls in Love with one Tachibana Makoto**

* * *

><p><em>'<em>_I'm a middle-schooler!' _thought Kisumi excitedly as he fixed his hair for the nth time that morning. He had woken up an hour before his alarm clock even rang, mostly because he was too excited about being a middle-schooler.

"Kisumi dear, wake up!" Kisumi heard his mother's voice from downstairs. "You're going to be late for the opening ceremony!"

The pink haired boy grinned. He grabbed his bag and raced down the stairs. Once he stood in front of his mother, he proudly said, "How do I look in my new uniform, mom?"

"Oh my, it's lovely!" His mother was smiling at him with kind eyes.

"It's _gakuran_, mom! _Gakuran!_" Kisumi beamed, practically radiating happiness.

His mother chuckled fondly. "Do you like your new uniform that much?"

Kisumi pouted. Something in his mother's tone irritated him. "Don't talk to me like I'm still a kid, mom! I'm a middle-schooler now!"

His mother chuckled again. "That's right dear, now go eat your breakfast and go to school so you can start your new phase of life immediately!"

—*.*—

Kisumi looked around his surrounding with a bubbling excitement inside. His elementary school was in Sano, so he only knew a few faces in Iwatobi. However, he was a friendly child, so it only made him excited to be surrounded with strangers. The prospect of making lots of new friends made him unable to stay silent. During the principal's long speech, he had already made move on those who sat around him. He knew that the boy who sat beside him was Aki, and the girl who sat in front of him called Zaki. He also knew that the gloomy guy who sat behind him was Haruka.

"Nanase Haruka?"

The raven-haired boy nodded.

Kisumi chuckled. "Your name is so girly."

The boy said nothing to that. He only glared at him.

"Uh, sorry."

The boy sighed. "It's fine. Used to it."

Kisumi chuckled awkwardly. _'Well, this guy is hard to talk to…'_

"Then, then, can I call you Haru?"

The raven-haired boy frowned. "No."

"Eh, why?"

Haru rolled his eyes, but did not answer his questions.

"Hey, why?"

Again, the boy could only sighed before completely ignoring him.

—*.*—

Kisumi hummed happily on the way home. He was incredibly happy since he managed to make five friends in a day.

_'__Tomorrow when the school starts, I will befriend lots more!'_

He greeted his mother and his baby brother with a loud, "I'm home!" before he went to his room to change his clothes.

His school had given every new students a single flower with a short _Welcome! _written on a piece of paper, so before he changed his clothes, he wanted to take a picture with him holding the flower and the paper. But oh, how panicked he was when he couldn't find the said flower and the paper anywhere in his bag. He was about to lose all hope when his mother called him.

"Kisumi dear, your friend is here!"

His face lit up like a Christmas tree immediately. He went downstairs in a speed of light, wanting to see who the 'friend' was. He was confused though, when the one standing in the _genkan _was not someone he knew.

The boy who was standing in his front door had a beautiful brownish hair, and kind face with a gentle smile. The boy was taller than he was, and his physique was great for someone their age. He was wondering what the other do for sports when the boy spoke to him.

"Um… Kisumi… right? Haru told me your name."

"Oh, are you Nanase's friend?"

"Ah, yeah." The brunette smiled. "My name is Tachibana Makoto."

"Eh… your name is also girly!"

His mother whacked him on the head lightly.

Seeing that, Makoto chuckled and said, "Yeah, but I like my name."

"Is that so? Then, can I call you Makoto?"

"Sure!" answered the kind boy. "Oh, right! You dropped something earlier, Kisumi!" said the boy as he gave a flower and a piece of paper to Kisumi.

"Eh? This is my…"

"Although the others weren't really looking forward to it, you looked genuinely happy when you received those, so I thought that you would be troubled if you lose it…" Makoto paused for a moment, looking for any response. However, when he saw none, he asked timidly, "Do I bother you instead?"

"Of course not!" said Kisumi immediately. "I was just looking for this! Thank you, Makoto!"

The brunette smiled, and Kisumi's heart skipped a beat. At that time, he did not realize that he already fell in love.

—*.*—

The moment Shigino Kisumi knew that he had already fallen in love for one Tachibana Makoto was when their classes had physical education together.

They were in the middle of a basketball game, when he watched a single drop of sweat rolling down from Makoto's face into his neck, and disappeared into his shirt. The pink-haired boy swallowed hard unconsciously, he did not even notice when his teammate made a pass to him. The ball went straight into his head, knocking him down instantly – but he was happy, because the last thing he saw before he blacked out was Makoto's worried face.

* * *

><p>—*.*—<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** It seems I haven't updated this for so long, but I have a final exams going on now, so I can't really write an actual chapter. Sorry. The next chapter should be Kisumi confessing to Makoto. On their date. How is Makoto having a date with Kisumi? I don't know, haven't thought of it. Really. So yeah, look forward for MakoKisu in the next chapter okay? (And maybe some MakoHaru in the end of the chapter, if the word count is enough)


	7. 06 - Should I Give Up on You?

**Chapter 6 – Should I Give Up on You?**

_It's ironic that I have to use Haru as a bait to lure Makoto (Kisumi Shigino)_

* * *

><p>At a late morning, Matsuoka Rin woke up with a bad headache. He scanned the room he was in and noticed that it was definitely not his room. Then he remembered that he had drinking contest with Kisumi, but he could not remember anything after that.<p>

_'__What. Am I still in Kisumi's room?'_

He sat up and looked around the whole room. _'What. It's Sousuke's. How the hell am I here? I don't remember anything.'_

He was about to get up and have some water when he saw the owner of the house still sleeping soundly on the floor. Irked by how his friend could sleep soundly without a hint of hangover, he kicked the guy, hard.

"Oi, Sousuke!"

The raven-haired man groaned, but he did not wake up.

"Oi, Sousuke!" Rin kicked him again, harder this time.

And finally, _finally, _the guy woke up in a foul mood. Well, who would not when he was woken up with a kick?

"Oi, Sousuke, get me some water." Ordered Rin. "My head hurts."

Sousuke sighed. "The things I do for you…"

Nevertheless, he got up and gave the redhead a glass of water.

"Sleep some more if your head still hurts." Said Sousuke as he sat beside Rin. "Is it bad?"

Rin glared at him. "I hate guys like you who are still perfectly fine even after a night of drinking alcohol."

Sousuke laughed heartily. He tousled Rin's locks and grinned. "Rest some more. I'll make breakfast."

—*.*—

"- ru. Haru. Haru."

Nanase Haruka cracked one eye open, and all he saw was green – Makoto's emerald eyes. He looked around the room, and realized that he was in his own room. _How?_ Even Haruka would like to know that.

"Are you okay? Does your head hurts?" asked Makoto with a worried face.

The raven-haired swimmer nodded weakly. His head was pounding like crazy.

"Then, rest some more, Haru. I'll leave some medicine for your headache and a bottle of water on your end table, okay." Said Makoto as he got up, ready to leave.

Tugging at his friend's sleeve, Haru called his friend's name with a croaked voice. "Makoto." He paused for a moment. Talking only worsened his headache. "How did I get home?"

"Um…" the brunette scratched his cheek awkwardly. " I carried you?"

Haru looked at him with a blank face. However, it was not _just_ a blank face; Makoto knew that it was Haru's grateful face. But sure, only him would understand that.

"Nah, it's nothing, Haru. You should rest."

Haru nodded again. Then he tugged at Makoto's sleeve once more, asking him silently. _'Where are you going?'_

"Um… To Kisumi's apartment? He seemed pretty wasted. I'm kind of worried. And I'll clean up his apartment for a bit too; we made quite a mess in there."

_'__Forever a good boy.' _Thought Haruka as he let go of his friend's sleeve, silently telling him that it was okay for the other to leave him.

—*.*—

Kisumi groaned in pain when his head encountered the table's foot.

He woke up to find that he was alone in his apartment.

"What… they went home?"

He looked around the place and clicked his tongue. His place was really dirty and messy.

Kisumi scratched the back of his head and yawned.

"What… I have to clean this up alone…?"

He sighed. "Well, I guess this is what I get since I was the one who invited them to drink at my place…"

He zoned out for a few minutes before he finally got up. "Guess I'll take a bath first before tidying up this place…" murmured Kisumi as he strolled towards the bathroom lazily.

After a good ten minutes, he had dressed himself in a clean shirt and a tight jean, with a towel still draped on top of his head. He took out a big plastic bag and started cleaning up his room.

When he was about to clean up his desk though, he came across with two tickets to the aquarium, sitting nicely on top of stack of books. He put down the plastic bag and picked up the tickets.

_'__When did I buy this?' _Kisumi pondered on. _'Did one of those guys left it behind?'_

Then, he remembered.

He had bought the tickets three months ago. He had wanted to ask Makoto to go with him, but he could never find the perfect time to ask the brunette since every time he had met up with Makoto, the tall guy would always ended up bringing up Haru-chan this and Haru-chan that.

_'__Now come to think of it, why did I buy these tickets? Tickets to the Aquarium?' _Kisumi scoffed – feeling pathetic and defeated with his own thoughts._ 'Isn't it the place where Makoto and Haru would most likely go for their date?'_

He smiled bitterly. He flipped the tickets to check the expiration date.

_'__Third July?' _The pink-haired man glanced at the mini calendar on his desk. _'Today, huh…'_

He chuckled dryly. _'Time to throw away these useless tickets then.'_

He was about to put the tickets into the plastic bag – along with the other thrash – when he heard the bell. He sighed and put down the tickets back onto his desk before he opened the door. "Yes?"

Then, his eyes widened.

"Eh… Makoto?"

—*.*—

The moment Tachibana Makoto went back to Kisumi's apartment, the pink-haired guy had woken up, had washed up, and in the middle of cleaning up his messy room.

"Eh, Makoto?" To say that Kisumi was shocked to find the brunette on his doorstep was understatement. "Did you forget something?"

"No." answered Makoto shortly with a warm smile plastered on his lips. "I just thought that you seemed pretty wasted, so I bought you some medicine for your hangover in case you don't have one, but… I guess you're fine already, huh…"

Kisumi's heart tightened. _'This is exactly why I cannot move on so easily from you, Tachibana Makoto.'_

"Ah, do you want me to help you tidy up your room? We made a big mess in there, right?"

"Oh, really? Wow as expected of Makoto, so kind!"

Makoto laughed awkwardly. "I'm not that kind at all, you know…"

It didn't take them a long time to clean up Kisumi's room. Once they were done, Kisumi remembered about the tickets he had bought on a whim and asked Makoto to go with him.

"Ne, Makoto…"

"Hm?"

"This…" Kisumi showed him the tickets. "These tickets… The expiration date is today, so… why don't you go with me?"

"Eh?" Makoto assessed the tickets for a second. "Ah, to the aquarium?" His face lit up like a candle. "Haru would like to go here!" When he realized that Kisumi only had two tickets though, his face fell into disappointment. "Ah, but… there's only two, huh…"

Again, Kisumi's heart tightened painfully. "Then, why don't you go with me today to see the aquarium first? Then the next time you bring Haru there, you can be his tour guide."

Makoto smiled. "Ah, sure! That works too! I can bring Haru there when they're open for dolphin show!" He checked his watch. "Shall we go now?"

"Yeah." Answered Kisumi.

_'__It's ironic that I have to use Haru as a bait to lure Makoto.'_

—*.*—

Kisumi smiled fondly as he watched Makoto's expression brightened once they arrived at the aquarium. More so when he watched the swimming dolphin.

And then, he brought up Haru again.

"Ne, Kisumi, isn't that dolphin looks like Haru?"

Kisumi laughed shortly. "How?"

"Eh? How?" Makoto paused for a moment. "Hmm… the way it swims… so freely… it's like Haru, right?"

The pink-haired man smiles turned bitter. "Yeah."

"Oh, that one too! The way it turns just like Haru!"

"… Yeah."

Kisumi gritted his teeth. Since the moment they had stepped foot in the aquarium, everything Makoto talked about was Haru. Sure, the brunette had always been like that, and Kisumi knew it perfectly. But somehow, that day he felt extremely annoyed once the brunette mentioned his love rival.

"Ah, it's penguin! Hey Kisumi, do you think Haru – "

" – Makoto!"

Makoto was surprised when Kisumi cut his sentence with a rather angry voice. "Eh, uh? Yeah?" He scratched his cheek, wondering if he had done anything to offend the pink-haired guy.

Kisumi stared straight into Makoto's eyes and said, "I like you."

There was an awkward pause between them as Makoto tried to process what his friend had just said to him. He was about to open his mouth to respond when his phone rang suddenly.

Kisumi sighed. "Answer it."

"Um, okay." Makoto picked up his phone and read the caller's name before he went a bit further from the pink-haired guy. "Hello?"

_"__Makoto! Where the hell are you?!"_

"Huh? Rin? Why are you using Haru's phone?"

_"__I'm in his place right now, duh! Now tell me where the hell you are! He is a pain when he is sick like this!"_

Makoto's eyes widened. "Wait, who's sick?"

_"__Haru, you dumbass! Who else?!"_

At that, Makoto ended the call abruptly and ran back towards Kisumi. "I'm sorry, Kisumi, I have to go back now, Haru is – "

"Sure." Again, the other cut his words with a bitter smile. "Haru comes first, right?"

"Uh, I'm so sorry, Kisumi, but Haru is sick, and I – "

"Hey, Makoto, should I give up on you?"

The brunette paused his frantic thought about the dolphin boy and focused at the matter at hand. _'That's right, Kisumi just confessed to me. I should give him proper answer.' _Thought Makoto. So he bowed deeply and said, "I'm so sorry Kisumi, but I can't reciprocate your feelings!"

After that, the brunette left the broken-hearted pink-haired guy all alone in the middle of their _supposed-to-be _date.

* * *

><p>—*.*—<p>

* * *

><p><strong>To be continued...<strong>

**A/N: **Good bye, Kisumi! I'm sorry.


End file.

Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club, Drama, Romance