Haruka sat down. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I mean your ex-girlfriend,” Sousuke needlessly clarified. “After all,” he continued, “didn’t she dump—Excuse me, break up with you, last month?” 

“What’s your point?” He spoke his words through gritted teeth. 

“Oh, nothing. I mean, I just kind of felt bad, so I decided I should let you know.” 

Haruka could practically hear Sousuke’s sarcastic and condescending tone drawl, “See? I’m just such a great guy.”

This guy, Haruka seethed, is the biggest dick I have ever met. 

“Okay. I’ll be going now,” he mumbled, grabbing his bag and shuffling out the door. 

On second thought, he’s a dildo. Because he’s fake. 

/// 

“Haru-chan! You’re finally here! We were all waiting for you, did you know that? And I tried to get Mako-chan and Rei-chan to tell my why Rin would be happy that Gou-chan dumped the tablets in the pool last month, but they wouldn’t tell me anything! Do you know something about that? Haru-chan? Are you there?” 

No, I’m not. Be quiet, Nagisa. I’m glaring at Makoto and Rei right now. 

“Hm.” 

/// 

If he were to be quite honest with himself, Haruka had completely forgotten that Gou broke up with him. He had thought they were still dating—and Nagisa taking every living second to refer to her as his girlfriend didn’t help at all. She even continued to text him and use emojis—did she do that with everyone? 

When he opened the door to his house, Haruka made a beeline for his bathtub. 

“Do you love me?” 

“What do you think?” 

“Haru, I don’t have time to play your stupid games anymore!” 

“…” 

“…Why can’t you ever give me an answer?” 

Because I don’t know how to say it back, he thought, and what if I mess up? 

Suddenly, Gou burst out laughing. 

“Haru, calm down. I was just messing around. Hey, do you wanna watch a movie?” 

“Okay..” 

She texted him two weeks later. 

[Kou: Haru, I think we should see other people.] 

[Haru: are you breaking up with me?] 

[Kou: ….yeah. I’m sorry, Haru.] 

[Kou: You’re really great and all..but I just don’t think that this is working out, you know?] 

[Haru: it’s ok] 

[Kou: ….] 

[Kou: Okay. Bye, Haru.] 

It was okay at the time, he supposed, but the breakup hit him hard afterwards when he realized that he still loved her but couldn’t say those words to her because she had dumped him. He knows that it was his fault, because he had only held her hand on occasion and maybe kissed her once, but Haru was never one for affection and she craved it like air. He couldn’t give her what she wanted and even though she loved him she couldn’t stay because the space between them had become suffocating, and it was hilarious in a way because she realized what she wanted after awhile—she just wanted to be free. Free in her kisses and hugs, but he would never accept them, and he knew and thought it to be humorous because he was the one always going on about being free, but in the end, he was the one that locked her up and caged her in. 

It was no longer funny when he couldn’t tell the difference between his tears and the swirling, lukewarm water in his bathtub. 

/// 

“Tell me, tell me, tell me!” 

Rei and Makoto both sighed—Nagisa had been childishly prattling on about the conversation he had overheard between them earlier that day. 

“I don’t believe it when you say that Rin is happy just because Gou dumped some tablets in our pool,” he crossed his arms. 

“Makoto, I think we should just tell him. I mean, it already happened. And it’s not like the whole ordeal was a big secret.” 

“I guess so, Rei.” 

Nagisa looked up expectantly at them. 

“Well…Gou broke up with Haru a few weeks ago, that’s all. And, well, Rin was pretty happy about it..” 

“Really?!” 

“Haru is still pretty upset about it, so don’t bring it up, okay?” 

///

“Today is a beautiful day. Something extraordinary is going to happen—not to you, of course, but to one of your close friends. You should be happy instead of moping.”

Five years later, and Haruka’s cousin was still on point every single day, a horoscope delivered precisely at 7:30 in the morning. Haruka still didn’t believe in them, but he did start to take notice of them more. 

Five years later, and Makoto still came to his house every day, occasionally with Rei and Nagisa, to make sure he was up and out of the bathtub. 

Five years later, and Gou had never stopped being his ex-girlfriend and first love. 

His back door opened and Makoto came tumbling in with an expensive looking suit on and another one in his hands. 

“Haru! Oh, I’m so glad you’re out of the bathtub already,” he beamed. “Here’s your tuxedo. You’d better get changed quick! We’re meeting Rei, Nagisa, and Rin soon.” 

Haruka stared blankly at the suit placed in his hands. 

“What is this for?” 

Makoto shot him a concerned look. 

With a soft grunt, he swung his locker shut and tossed his backpack over his shoulder, turning to the side so he could face Rin. 

"So, what's up with Gou and those weird Iwatobi guys?"

Rin snorted audibly and replied, "They're my friends. And they're her friends too."

Unfortunately, Sousuke was not pleased with this answer. 

"Aren't you afraid they'll…you know..make a move on her or something?" 

"Really, Sousuke? If you haven't noticed yet, they are all literal five-year-olds." He shut his locker and picked up his bag, ticking off the Iwatobi members on his fingers. "First off, Makoto is practically everyone's mother. Haru is enamored with water, Nagisa is most likely eating cake while playing a stupid video game right now, and Rei is obsessed with perfection. They're all too wrapped up in their own little worlds. Satisfied?"

Sousuke made a little noise in the back of his throat, his eyebrows still knitted together. 

"Why, you got the hots for my sister?" It was obviously a joke, but Sousuke jolted and averted his gaze. "Wait. Sou, do you?"

"What? Of course not. I'm just looking out for her. She's like a little sister to me too, you know," he quickly explained. "I don't like her that way. Stop being stupid, Rin." 

Hastily, he turned and walked away faster than he would've liked. Sousuke wasn't an idiot. He knew that the rapid beats of his heart were not from swim practice, and he knew that the heat on his cheeks were not caused by the broken A/C in the locker room. 

He pulled out his phone. Maybe he would take Gou out for popsicles this Saturday. As a friend, of course. But he knew he was only pretending.

The weekly call came exactly the same time it always came—the phone began sharply ringing at 7:30 AM, the precise time Haruka slipped into his bathtub. Sinking down into the water, he let the machine pick it up, and his cousin’s slightly snooty voice started, his always condescending tone beginning the horoscope. 

“Haruka, don’t leave the house today. Or the bathtub, which is probably where you are right now. You’re going to have a terrible day today. Yes, even worse than the dull days you always have. Of course, if you bothered to listen to Oha Asa instead of wasting your time and actually made use of lucky items, your life probably wouldn’t be as horrid.” 

Without so much as a proper greeting or goodbye, the message started and ended. Internally, Haruka rolled his eyes and sighed. The next call came promptly at 8 AM, and once again, Haruka let it go to voicemail. Makoto’s lighthearted tone floated into his bathroom. 

“Haru? You’re probably still in the bathtub right now, but I just thought I’d remind you we have a joint practice scheduled for today! I’ll be over soon to pick you up, okay—Ren, stop that! Anyways, Gou told me to remind you that she won’t be able to come today—Ren, go play with Ran! She said she already texted you, but I know you rarely check your phone. Maybe you should do that more often? Well, I’ll see you in a bit—Ran, what are you doing here?! I’m trying to p—“ 

The call cut off with a sharp click and Makoto’s exasperated voice as Haruka prepared to dry himself off. If he was still in the bathtub when Makoto came over, he’d most likely get another lecture. Haruka stopped by his bedroom and picked up his phone before heading to the kitchen. Just as Makoto informed him, Gou already texted him—five times. 

At 8:45 AM, Hazuki Nagisa barreled into Haruka’s house with Rei and Makoto tailing after him, Rei chastising him and Makoto not even bothering to stop Nagisa—he had known the boy for too long. Haruka expertly dodged Nagisa’s rib-crushing hug and nodded in greeting to everyone else, raising an eyebrow at Makoto, who almost immediately understood. He gave an apologetic smile that Haruka had seen too many times and gestured to his kitchen, making a few vague movements and mouthing a ‘Sorry!’ as Haruka shrugged. 

“I thought we could all have a meal together before the practice, Haru-chan! It’s been forever since we all ate together!” 

“I saw you yesterday. We had lunch together.” 

“I know, but that was like forever ago,” Nagisa whined into his shoulder. 

“I don’t want to have lunch with you again.” 

“You would if your girlfriend was here.” 

They ended up eating at Haruka’s house. 

///

When Haruka arrived at Samezuka Academy, Rin greeted him with a grin and threw an arm around his shoulders, enthusiastically mentioning a ‘swim race to the death’ and a few details that Haruka didn’t quite catch. 

“Is it just me, or does Rin look happier?” Rei not-so-subtly whispered to Makoto. 

“It’s probably because of what happened last month,” he admitted. 

“What happened last m—oh. Oh, that.” 

“What? What is it?” Nagisa jumped into the conversation and his eyes darted between Makoto and Rei. 

“U-Um, nothing! Rei and I were just discussing how Gou d-dumped the tablets in the pool…last..month…” 

“Nice save.” 

“Not helpful, Rei.”

/// 

Haruka had been standing in front of the vending machine for five minutes. Sports drink or juice? Normally, he would choose water, but the machine was out, and he forgot to bring his. At least the sports drink looked like water. He pressed the button and picked up his drink before bumping into Sousuke as he was about to round the corner. 

He was holding the last bottle of water. 

This guy, Haruka thought, is a dick.  

“Hey, Nanase.”

“Uh. Hi. Yamazaki,” he mumbled. 

“Do you mind staying a few minutes after practice? There’s something I want to talk to you about.” 

“I don’t really want to.” 

“Great, see you after practice.” 

The rest of the hour went by rather quickly, and although no one actually died in Rin’s swim race to the death, Haruka felt like he was going to die when he saw Sousuke waiting for him in the locker room. 

“What are you doing here?” 

“I said we needed to talk, remember? You agreed to meet with me after practice.” 

“No I didn’t.” 

“Anyways, have a seat.” 

Haruka frowned—did this guy ever listen to anything or anyone?

“..Okay. I guess you can stay standing.” Sousuke paused for a moment. “I don’t really know how to put this.” 

“I have things to do. Places to go. People to see. Make it quick.” Haruka had heard that line in a movie his friends had made him watch, and he had been dying for a chance to use it. 

“Alright, then. I’ll keep it short.” 

Haruka suddenly had a horrible feeling about this whole situation. He needed to leave—now.

Tears were shed at the train station, and she laughed when he imitated those dramas on television and ran after her train. She blew him a kiss and he mouthed an 'I love you' before the moment was over and she was suddenly gone. He never ceased to surprise and amaze her, and sometimes she wondered what her life was like before him. 

The first day and the next on her trip, she missed him horribly. She craved his caresses and soft butterfly kisses that left her weak in the knees and giddy with happiness. She missed being in his strong arms and cuddling each other, and she missed his presence. The days following that, she became busy and only thought about him at night. She thought about him so much that she convinced herself she had never loved anyone more. Gradually, as the week dragged on, she stopped noticing he was not beside her. There was no need for thinking of kisses and cuddles and his bright eyes and messy bedhead, and she started to think that maybe she did not need him as much as she thought she did. 

It was as if the first few years were tantalizing and full of new things, but as the clock continued ticking, the joy of seeing him became lesser until there was none.

She returned the day after that, and she saw him waiting at the station for her. When she pulled into her stop, he was all wide smiles and smothering kisses, pulling her into one of his great bear hugs that almost crushed her lungs. And the funny thing was that she saw it all coming. She wasn't surprised, and his kiss did not make her knees go weak. 

"I missed you so much," he told her. 

"I missed you too," she says, and it was not a lie. 

He pressed another kiss to her temple and brushed her hair with his fingers. He looked into her eyes and she could see how strongly he felt for her. 

"I love you," he said, and she felt like the audience who was at a play that had the script already set out on each chair. 

“Dunno. Also, it’s Kou. K-O-U.” 

“You’re sitting on it, aren’t you?”

“No way.” 

Gou sniffed and crossed her legs, grabbing a pillow from his bed and placing it behind her back before she continued to file her nails. On his bed. The fluorescent dorm lights flickered on and off as Sousuke leaned against the small ladder leading up to his bunk and sighed.

“Come on, Gou. I wanna watch the reruns on Channel 52.” 

“So?” 

He let out a suffering groan as he climbed up and sat next to her, resting his head on her shoulder. She scooted away and he almost fell. 

“Please? I’m sorry I made you miss your ‘Monthly Muscle’ program yesterday.” 

She put the nail file down.  

“Even though that show is stupid and FRIENDS is better.” 

She threw the nail file off the bed, purposely missing his desk. He groaned again and buried his face into her soft legs, smirking at her squeak. 

“Get off me, Sousuke!” 

“Nope. Not until you give me the remote.” 

A few minutes passed with neither of them willing to be the first to yield, so Sousuke began tickling her, blowing a raspberry on her stomach lightly when her shirt rode up. Caught up in a laughing fit, she rolled over in an attempt to get away from him and he snatched the remote up, flicking on the television set and pulling her onto his lap. When she recovered from her giggles, she rolled her eyes at the program playing. 

“Why do you always get to watch whatever you want to watch?” 

“Because it’s my TV.” 

“I hate you.”

There was no response from Haru, who was driving in case Makoto chickened out and threw up in the car. 

“N-No, really. I mean, how did you even find her? It’s been years..” 

“You see, Makoto, there’s this thing called the Internet,” Haru began drily. 

“How do you even know its her? I mean, it could be someone else with the same name working at the same company—“ 

“Please shut up.” 

“Okay. Right, sorry.” 

Makoto shifted in the passenger seat and wiped his sweaty palms on his pants, fixing his gaze on the trees flying past through the window. In high school, Makoto had dated a girl name Matsuoka Gou. She was the loveliest girl he knew, and he would’ve proposed, but she said she wasn’t ready for anything that serious. After his senior year, he moved, but he never forgot her. He knew it was silly, but even if he was still a highschooler, he was certain he loved her. And he hadn’t stopped doing so—even to this day. 

“We’re almost there.” 

Haru’s impassive voice reached Makoto’s ears and the latter jumped in his seat, hitting his head against the roof of the car. He suppressed a suffering groan. 

“Right! Okay, I got this. Are you sure this is the right address?”  

“For the tenth time, yes,” Haru sighed. 

“Do you think she’s married by now?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“Do you….do you think she still loves me?

“…I don’t know. Why don’t you ask her yourself?” 

“Huh?” 

“We’re here.” 

Haru parked beside a house that looked like it had popped out from a magazine. The lawn was pristine, and assorted flora decorated the stone path leading to two grand double doors that were so tall even Makoto appeared to shrink beside them. 

“Oh no. No, I cannot do this.” 

“Makoto, stop it. You’ll be fine.” 

“Please come with me.” 

He got out of the car reluctantly and shuffled to the front doors with Makoto trailing nervously behind him, as if trying to hide behind his friend. Haru gestured to the doorbell and Makoto paled. 

“Makoto.” 

He pushed the button. 

“Oh, look, no reply! H-Ha, I guess she’s not home! Let’s go back now, Haru.”

Haru gave him a look. 

He pushed the button again. 

“Coming! One second—where the hell did this vase come from-?” 

The door swung open and Makoto’s chest felt like it was about to burst and his stomach was doing complicated flips inside of him and oh god—he was going to throw up. He was going to throw up right in front of the girl—no, woman now—he loved and it would be too embarrassing and—oh, wait. 

“Oh. Oh, it’s not—You—..You’re not Gou,” was all he could say to the man who opened the door. 

“And who the hell might you guys be? We’re not interested in whatever you’re selling.” 

“A-Actually, we’re not selling anything? Um, I..I’m looking for a Matsuoka Gou…?”

The redhead in the doorway seemed to reel back for a second before he composed himself and shot a feeble glare at the two men on his porch. 

“What about her?” 

“I used to be her friend. A really close friend. In high school. I think we’re still friends. I mean, I hope we are?” 

“Well, my sister died five years ago, so you’re outta luck,” the man said. 

“What?”

“I’m Matsuoka Rin. Her older brother. Gou died five years ago. I don’t want to have to say it again. It still burns, okay?” 

“I—Oh god. Oh my god, Haru. This—is not real.” 

“I think you need to sit down.” 

Rin clicked his tongue and opened the door a bit wider. 

“I guess you guys can come inside for a little bit.” 

Haru ushered Makoto inside and took a seat on the couch. Noticing the row of photos on top of the fireplace, Makoto stood up shakily and moved towards it. He picked up a photo and felt a lump in his throat—there she was. She was so beautiful, and it appeared she had gotten married after all. He was good-looking, Makoto would admit. Freckles splattered across his face and honey eyes that beamed out from the photo (not to mention his gravity-defying phoenix hair), there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that she had married someone who would love her for as long as she lived. 

“So who are you again?” 

Rin reappeared with three sports drinks and tossed them to Haru and Makoto. 

“That’s my friend, Haru. I’m Gou’s friend from high school—we actually dated for quite awhile,” he admitted. 

Rin narrowed his eyes at Makoto. 

“I see.” 

“Does….I mean, did..did she ever talk about me? Anything at all.” 

“If she did, it wasn’t to us,” Rin shrugged. 

Makoto’s face fell, and Haru glanced up from his drink as the front door burst open and another voice joined. 

“What’s up with all this junk mail and stuff, Uncle Rin? I thought you unsubscribed to those magazines mom liked—Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you had guests over…?”

The sports drink in Makoto’s hand almost exploded as his heart rate sped up to an unhealthy level. Standing in front of them and holding a stack of mail and magazines was a teenage boy with her eyes, and he was absolutely floored. 

Rin grabbed the boy and threw an arm around his shoulders with a grin. 

“Nah, I couldn’t do that. Your mom loved those magazines, kiddo. Anyways, these are old friends of hers, apparently. Go on, introduce yourself.” 

With a grin that nearly split his face, the boy dropped the mail on the coffee table and turned to Haru and Makoto. 

“It’s great to meet you! Matsuoka Gou is my mom. I’m Matsuoka Makoto—her son. But you can just call me Makoto.” 

They all shook hands, exchanged contact information, and it wasn’t long before Haru and Makoto left the Matsuoka residence and settled back down into their car. 

“I guess that answered your question.” Haru slid his gaze to Makoto for a second before focusing on the road again. “She still remembers you. And she probably still loved you for a long time.” 

“Yeah.” 

They drove in silence for awhile before Makoto spoke up again.

“Do you think we could visit again sometime?” 

Haru drove onto the highway. The night sky was clear, and the stars dotted the blanket above them. The lights on the highway lighted up, and the horn of a nearby boat sounded in the night. 

“Okay.”