Makoto's so dreamy... Haru thought to himself, his mind clouded with the few minutes he had spent with Makoto. He could barely concentrate in class, because he was so happy. Well, that's one step towards being his friend. I can't wait till we're officially friends, so I can join the swim team. Wait till Nagisa and Rei hear this!
--
"Tachibana!" Makoto's friends shouted, although their voices were muffled by the many other students calling the brunette's last name.
Awkwardly, Makoto brushed everybody aside so he could get to his friends. For the next few classes, he had been debating whether or not he should tell his friends about his encounter with Haru.
When lunch time arrived, he decided to keep it to himself. He refused to have feelings for anybody. Especially a boy. Especially a boy newbie.
"Hey," Makoto waved at his friends, joining them at the table.
"You actually said hello to us!" Kisumi squealed.
"Every hello begins with hell," Makoto regretted.
"You have a more softer expression than usual," Sousuke observed.
Oh no. This is all Haruka's fault, Makoto scolded. How do I fix it? I know! If I can throw away his book bag... Yes that's it! I wasn't able to do it before. But if I bet I did, everything will go back to normal. That's right... I couldn't care less about that newbie loser.
"Earth to Tachibana!" Kisumi hollered, waving his arms in front of Makoto's face.
Annoyed, Makoto grabbed Kisumi's arms and slammed them to the table. Before he could continue to abuse the cotton-candy haired boy, something from the corner of his eye caught his attention.
"I'm so proud of you!" Nagisa exclaimed, patting a certain transfer student on the back.
"Thank you," Haru mumbled gratefully, as the two walked past the popular table.
Haru glanced at the brunette and flashed a smile as he walked by. Makoto's heart skipped a beat, as he yearned for more of Haru's attention.
"Why didn't you do anything?" Rin asked, speaking on behalf of his friend group. They all saw how Makoto just let a vulnerable prey walk past him.
"He's not worth my time," Makoto lied.
"True," Sousuke agreed, snickering.
"He seems pretty attached to all of his books," Rin observed. "In Math class, he just covered his face in a book and never looked up."
"He wasn't actually reading," Kisumi, who was also in Rin's math class, pitched in. "I never saw him flip the page."
"Maybe a picture book?" Rin guessed.
"Did you do something to the new kid, Tachibana?" Kisumi asked.
"I threw his one of his books in the trash can." Makoto recalled.
"Nice!" Kisumi and Rin exclaiming, holding their hands up for a high-five.
Makoto glared at the childish gesture.
"That may seem why he's so socially awkward," Rin continued. "He's probably scared of you."
"You should throw his whole book bag in the trash can!" Sousuke suggested.
"That's not a half-bad idea for something without brains," Makoto acknowledged.
Sousuke nodded, taking the insult as a compliment.
See, even my friends agree with me! So, all I have to do is throw Haruka's crap away. I'll become even stronger if I do that!
"Yo, Tachibana," Rin alerted. "New kid's leaving the new kid table. You wanna go pick on him now?"
Makoto smirked and nodded. The brunette got up and walked towards Haru, followed by his three friends.
"Hi Makoto," Haru waved, causing Makoto to blush profusely.
I can't do anything to him. God damn it. Why am I getting soft? This isn't good, Makoto thought, as his friends stepped forward.
"You have a really pretty face," Kisumi remarked, his arms wrapped around the boy. "For a piece of crap."
"Which school did you used to go to?" Rin asked. "Or have you lived in a trash can your whole life?"
Loser, Makoto wanted to say. Yet, Haru's eyes distracted his intention. Makoto vigorously shook his soft side away, and grabbed Haru's back pack. Without regret, Makoto shoved the backpack into the nearest trash can. The four chuckled as Haru stared helplessly at the trash can.
"Go home, loser," Makoto laughed, kicking Haru.
"...T-Two-faced..." Haru whispered, looking down.
"What was that?" Makoto lifted Haru's chin up, showing that the black-haired boy was crying.
Surprised, Makoto staggered back, allowing Haru to rush towards the bathroom in tears.
That didn't feel good I all! Makoto thought, shocked. What am I suppose to do then? I don't want to be weak!
The brunette watched as Haru ran into the boy's bathroom. He really wished he could comfort the poor student.
"You don't look like you enjoyed that very much," Sousuke noticed.
"Nah, I'm just surprised that I could make idiots cry," Makoto smirked, hiding his softer expression.
"I'm going to go play basketball," Kisumi informed, checking his watch. "Anybody else coming?"
All eyes looked at Makoto.
"I'm not going," Makoto declined. "I don't want people seeing me hanging around losers."
"Fair fair," Kisumi sighed. "I'll see you in Spanish class."
Makoto watched his friends leave for the basketball court. As soon as they were gone, many students began piling around him, wanting his attention. Annoyed, Makoto pushed them away and made a run for the bathroom.
With the door closed, Makoto breathed a sigh of relief. He really did hate everybody in the school. Instead of pure silence, Makoto heard constant sobbing coming from one of the bathroom stalls.
Shoot! I forgot Haruka is in here, Makoto opened the bathroom door, but all he saw were people awkwardly crowding around the door. Damn it! Why can't people just leave me alone!
Yet, Makoto didn't want them to leave him alone. Even though everybody was bothering him, Makoto really didn't want to be alone. He wanted to be the center of attention.
Looking at the bright side, this situation gave Makoto a chance to talk to Haru. Although Makoto wanted to deny it, he really had a thing for Haru's innocence.
"Hey," Makoto mumbled, knocking on the bathroom door. "Haruka?"
"Leave me alone." A voice demanded, followed by a few sniffs.
"Look I'm s-s...so....s- you know what I mean,"
"Sorry?"
"Sure."
"You mean it?"
"Whatever."
Haru opened the bathroom door. After seeing how much the dark-haired boy had cried, Makoto began to feel a bit bad. The brunette took off his jacket and used it to wipe off Haru's snot.
"You look disgusting," Makoto mumbled.
"Your words are so harsh," Haru remarked, smiling. "But they're so kind."
This wasn't the first time Makoto had heard those words, but this time they really stuck to them. Today was the first time in a while that Makoto had also smiled genuinely.
"Look, just don't tell anybody about this, okay?" Makoto warned, throwing his jacket on Haru's face.
The brunette turned around to leave, but was interrupted when somebody wrapped their arms around his waist from behind.
"Thank you," The voice mumbled.
"Get off me,"
Haru released Makoto. "You're really nice."
"No I'm not."
"You're kind in your heart."
"I don't have one."
Haru cocked his head, confused. "Well, if you say so."
"I won't be nice next time."
Haru giggled. "Okay, tough guy."
Tough guy. Those few words made Makoto feel gooey inside and out. Covering his blush, he hit Haru in the stomach and left the bathroom. Thankfully, everybody had already grown tired of waiting, so they all weren't crowding at the bathroom door anymore. Besides, class had already started.
So I'm a tough guy, huh?