omoikiri // harumaki

fifteen // end

The evening soon arrived. Maki waited for Harua to arrive, staring out at the impending day's end. With how busy and fun the day had been, the couple barely had a real moment to themselves. Maki realised this after he noticed a sweet couple standing by themselves after most of the festivities - he hadn't quite spent time with Harua that day.

Maki heard the rooftop's door open and he turned around to make sure it was Harua - a smile grew on his face when he met eyes with the pretty boy that he had the pleasure of calling his boyfriend. Harua waved his hand as he approached the other, cheeks glowing with happiness.

"Did you miss me?" Maki asked as Harua stopped just before him, resting his head gently on his chest. As Harua nodded, Maki let out a small laugh as he wrapped his arms around the other gently. "We were too busy..."

"But it's fine - we're together now," Harua murmured, lifting his head to look up at the other. "Maki-chan... why do you like me?"

"Do I need a reason?"

"I have one." Maki raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Apart from you being super handsome and secretly nice, you... helped me. Jo was too afraid to help with Haruto, but you told me to call you whenever anything happened. I admire someone so fearless and selfless. You pushed me away, but I kept trying - I wanted to be your friend. As a crush formed, I was worried I would be weird - but you held my hand first. I'm very happy that you returned my f-"

Before Harua could continue, Maki had put his hands to Harua's cheeks and tilted his head, pressing a shy yet warm kiss to the other's lips. Harua panicked immediately - it was his first kiss! He didn't know what to do, but he supposed that responding positively was important. Harua nervously raised a hand to hold the sleeve of Maki's PE jersey, his eyes shut tightly to avoid any awkward eye contact.

Maki slowly removed his lips from the other's, meeting Harua's teary eyes. He was worried for a moment, but Harua's burning cheeks made him smile slightly. "I hope that was okay."

Harua nodded, hands still shaking as he released Maki's sleeve. "... mhm..."

Maki laughed again as he pressed a soft kiss to the other's forehead. "I like you a lot, Harua. Thank you for letting me be myself with you."

"It's the least I can do," Harua muttered. "I mean... I'm your boyfriend..."

"That's right," Maki nodded. The elated smile on his lips refused to fade, happiness shining through the ice wall he had worked so hard on building. Against his will, he had grown soft for the sweet boy in front of him. "I'm your boyfriend, Harua."

Harua beamed from ear to ear, bashfully reaching for Maki's sleeve again. "C-can... can you kiss me a-again...?"

•

"See you tomorrow, Asakura-kun!"

Jo waved his hand to Yuma and Yudai as he turned the corner into his street, heart heavy with an emotion he couldn't figure out. Maybe lying to himself and saying that he was over Harua was slowly causing some harm. Maybe his sullen mood was obvious, but he thought he did a good job at hiding his heart.

But Harua knew him inside and out.

Jo stopped by himself, sighing softly as he looked down at the ground. His vision grew blurry - his tears fell to the concrete, but he quickly wiped them away with a sharp inhale. His shaky exhale showed him just how much he was actually hurt. He knew it would only be for a moment, but he had to get it out.

Jo liked his best friend, and as many times as he said that he would get over Harua, he knew he couldn't let his feelings go. A small, selfish part of his broken heart didn't want Maki to be with Harua - but he had no reason to hate the new student. Maki was great - he clearly had deep feelings for Harua, just as Harua dedicated a part of his heart to Maki.

Jo liked him too - so why did he choose Maki?

Was it because Maki spoke up about his feelings? Was it the dreaded friendzone? Would things have ended differently if Jo actually told Harua how he felt? Was Maki more likeable than Jo? Was Jo simply just a friend and nothing more? That was most likely the case - the two had been close for a very long time.

Jo wanted to be happy for the couple, but to ignore his feelings for his best friend would be harmful. He wanted to selfishly guilt Harua into leaving Maki, but deep down, that's not what he wanted. Harua was his best friend - he only wished him happiness. Maki did a good job of keeping him happy.

In the end, that's all that mattered.

Jo wiped his teary eyes once more, arms hanging helplessly by his sides. Truthfully, it wasn't fine that Harua was dating someone else - but he knew he'd get over him. Jo believed he wasn't petty and would eventually grow to accept their relationship - but until then, the fact of the matter was that his heart was broken, and it would take a whole lot of healing to feel better.

"Maybe being single isn't so fun after all..."

Jo quietly trudged home, hands stuffed into his pockets. He hoped his mother was in her room so that he could avoid her, but as always, his mother was the first to greet him.

"Ah, my JoJo is back ho-! Huh?! My boy, why are you crying?!"

Jo smiled softly as tears formed in his eyes, his mother scurrying over to him and hugging him tightly. She held his cheeks as she wiped his tears, a looking of confused concern in her eyes. "I... I got rejected."

"What?! Come - let's have a talk, JoJo."

Jo took off his shoes before walking over to his mother sitting at the kitchen counter. He wasn't sure if he was ready to talk about his feelings for Harua - but he loved and trusted his mother. Maybe she would give him some advice about fixing his heart.

Maybe getting over Harua wouldn't be so difficult.

[ bonus chapters coming up soon :D ]