MAKOTOXHARU FREE! Surprising Summer

Chapter 5: When Confusion Comes

I.. I'm so confused..." Mako thought to himself, lying in his bed, looking up to the ceiling. "I have been telling myself I'm straight for over two years, but I know damn well that isn't the case. It all started with Haru two years ago.. Just the way he protected me and always was there for me. I immediately fell for those ocean blue eyes. But now meeting Yumi... Only hearing him say "Mako-Chan" made my stomach go insane... This is so hard... I wish I could just tell everyone, but since we were always very open about our bodies in the dressing room and more.. Confessing would just make those moments more awkward... I don't want these feelings!" Mako soflty said this last sentence, turned around and shoved his head in his pillow. Slowly tears started to flow and after 10 minutes, he managed to cry himself to sleep.

*Two months later*
Its been two months since Yumi joined the rest of the gang. They had incredible loads of fun together, swam a lot and even won a city competition together. Now they all know what is gonna come soon, Rin and Gou's goodbye. But on the 11th of December, they want to have just one last great night together. And what better moment to choose than Yumi's birthday?

*11th of December*
Nagisa, Rin, Makoto, Haruka, Gou & Rei all sat together at Haru's house. They all lied to Yumi about having to do important homework, but secretly they are planning a last minute surprise party Makoto just wanted to give. "Okay guys, shall we go through the plan?" Mako asked. "Alright!" Everyone answered. "Okay, Gou, Nagisa, you guys are the distraction, after training we need you to keep him away from his house so we can set everything up." Mako continued. "Our plan was to say we wanted to go for a walk, and then just ask about some school or swimming stuff." Nagisa said. Secretly planning to something different than a 'casual'' conversation. "Perfect!" Mako says smiling. "Now we also need someone who steals his keys so we can get insi-" Mako tried to continue, but was interrupted by Rin grabbing the keys out of his pockets showing them to Mako with a big grin. "Wait how?" Mako asked confused. "He should really pay more attention to his backpack." Rin said with a smile.
Everyone laughs and Mako continues: "Now the birthday decorations will be taken care of by Haru and me, but the last thing we need is his favourite food, a chocolate cake!" Mako said happily. 

During the last two months Yumi especially got along well with Haru when it came to cooking, Nagisa and Rei when it came to swimming and Mako to have deep conversations with.
Yumi also told Mako more about his past: How his mother died of cancer and he had to be alone for very long and also how he got sexually abused. Mako understood and comforted him crying a lot of times, making them not only become great friends, but also making Mako's feelings for Yumi grow.

"I will take care of the chocolate cake. I have read so many books about them I can almost dream the recipes." Rei said with confidence. "And I'll be your personal sous-chef!" Rin said jokingly, unconscious of the fact that he now really has to help.
"Great! Then everything is ready for the best party ever!"

*11th of December, just after practise*
Everyone was drying off from swimming when Nagisa walked up to Yumi. "Hey, you mind going out for a walk with Gou and I? She's already waiting outside." He asked. "Ahh... Why not, shall be fun!" Yumi said with a smile.

Mako and the rest hastily went to Yumi's place and set up everything as Nagisa and Yumi walked towards Gou so the three of them could take a long walk. After 5 minutes of walking in a very calm park close to Yumi's house, Nagisa asked out of the blue "Hey Yumi, since we now have the privacy, you mind if I ask something personal?" Gou looked confused, as this wasn't part of the plan, but Nagisa winked at her after which she weirdly understood what he was planning. "Y-yeah sure, what is it?" Yumi asked in a slightly nervous tone. "Well I noticed you staring at a certain friend of ours for a while, and I'm curious to find out what it's about." Nagisa asked. "S-stare?" Yumi said, growing more nervous. "Yeah you've been staring for a while, it seems like you have a little cruhuuuush." Nagisa said, looking at him with a smile. Yumi started to blush and tried to ignore eye contact by looking at the ground. "I... I don't know what you're talking about." He responds softly. Then Gou proceeded to stand in front of him, making him stop walking. "Hey, the rest might be idiots, but we see everything! You were staring!" Gou said with a smile. Right when she finished her sentence, Yumi got bright red and tried to hide his head behind his brown beanie. Not much later Nagisa snatched it out of his hands. "Let's go sit on that bench over there." Nagisa said pointing at a bench a few meters away from them. The three of them sat down. Yumi took a deep breath and confessed. "I.. Think I'm gay." he said. Looking at Nagisa and Gou like they're about to hit him. But they both looked back at him and simultaneously said "I KNEW IT!" after which they hugged him, making Yumi smile and calm down. After a moment Yumi asked "But how did you know I was staring?" Nagisa and Gou looked at each other like they just won the lottery. "We were bluffing the whole time!" Nagisa said laughing. "But since you just admitted, why don't you tell us who your little crush is?" Gou said with a smile. "Fine... it's not really a crush or something... I just think he's extremely cute a-" Yumi got interrupted by Gou saying "Don't make this harder than it is! Just tell us!" "Alright." Yumi said. "The guy I have a crush on is-"

*meanwhile at Yumi's place*
Mako and Haru were very busy to decorate the house as festive as possible. After just 20 minutes they were done and Mako and Haru walked to the kitchen, where the most beautiful chocolate cake ever stood. As Mako and Haru walked in, they were both gobsmacked. "Wow guys, that is amazing!" Mako said enthusiastically. "Thank you, it seems Rei and I make a great team after all!" Rin said, followed up with a high five with Rei. Now with everything finished, Mako messaged Nagisa that they can come. But five minutes later Nagisa still hasn't responded. "He is not responding.. Did something bad happen?" Mako asked concerned. "Don't worry about it, they're probably busy at the moment." Haru said, and a moment after Mako got a message.

Nagisa:
Alright! We'll be there in five :)

*At the park*
"OH MY GOD HIM? SERIOUSLY?" Nagisa screamed out of enthusiasm. "Are you gonna make a move? If not can we please be your cupido?" Gou pleaded. "No thanks guys, I'll see what'll happen I think. Maybe something happens or not, but I don't even know if he's gay... He definitely doesn't seem like it." Yumi says. "Well you don't either." Gou said with a smile. "But sure, just don't let it just slip alright?" Gou asked with a wink. Yumi nodded with a smile and afterwards looked at his fairly fancy black watch on his right wrist.
"It's almost dinner time. Why don't you guys come eat at my place? We'll order something and have some fun." he said with a smile. Gou and Nagisa exchanged looks, both being completely gobsmacked of how ironic it is he asks this exactly today, and happy of how this makes them a lot less suspicious. Gou and Nagisa both agreed and they walked to his home.
Once they reached Yumi's front door, Gou started walking a bit behind Nagisa and Yumi to message Mako.

Gou: We're at the front door, let's first stress him out, I'll message when to open the door :P

Mako: Wait?! Don't be too rude!!!

Yumi searched in his backpack and snarled out "Shit! I think I lost my keys! What do I do now?" "Oh no!" Nagisa acted out.

Gou: Open the door now!

And just when Yumi wanted to say something else, he was greeted by his front door opening. When he looked up he saw Makoto standing there in the doorway and behind him the rest with a big chocolate birthday cake. In unison they all said "SURPRISE!"