Wavering Emotions

The heavy atmosphere dominated the two as they went up to the rooftop. As they reached the rooftop, they witnessed the glorious scene of the moon, with stars dancing and twinkling in its background. There, Izumi could no longer hold his burden and cried. "H-hey! Are you okay?!" said Haruki as he rushed by his side. Izumi's joints were weakened, causing him to collapse. "I knew that he is emotionally unstable but it's my first time seeing him break down like this. He usually hides it from everybody," thought Haruki. Izumi continued to sob. Tears fall from his eyes continuously as if it's almost unstoppable.

"Have you ever believed in superstition, Haru-chan?" asked Izumi as he continued to sob. "Sometimes, why?" asked the intrigued Haruki. "I saw the red thread. It was Mitsuru. He is my fated pair. It was supposed to be invisible, but why do I keep seeing it?!" said and asked the frustrated Izumi. Haruki was utterly surprised at how direct Izumi told him his problem. "He must be having a hard time…" he thought. "So, what are your plans now?" asked Haruki. Izumi stood up and gazed upon the beautiful view of the sky. "I suppose, I should let Satoshi go," he said as the wind gushed and howled loud around them. Standing at a distance, Haruki again was shocked. "Don't tell me… You're breaking up with him? And you're choosing Mikkun?" asked Haruki with an anxious and trembling voice. "I knew something was up. But I didn't think it was this terrible already. I'm so pathetic. I'm confident that I can help my friends, but in reality, I was just talk!" thought Haruki as he clenched his fist.

"Why? I don't understand. You said before that you fell in love with Satoshi, that's why you dated him," responded Haruki once more. "I DIDN'T TELL YOU THE REASON WHY I DATED HIM! YES, I WAS MESMERIZED AND WAS MOVED BY HIS PERSONALITY! BUT I AM SO AWFUL! HE DOESN'T DESERVE ME!" shouted Izumi as he continued to cry. "What?!" responded Haruki. "Then what was the reason? Don't tell me…." Haruki was horrified upon realizing what Izumi meant. "Yes! I only used him to forget Mitsuru! I am not dense, Haru-chan. Even though you couldn't tell me, I knew that you knew that I was in love with Mitsuru. I firmly believed that by turning any of my friends into my lover, I would lose them! I am afraid to lose both! That's why you couldn't approach me to talk about it even if you wanted to!" said Izumi as he collapsed once again on the ground. "Woah, since when did Izu-chan become this perceptive?" thought Haruki as he rushes to catch Izumi.

"Then, what will be your reaction if Mitsuru rejected you? I'm pretty sure that he will be convinced that you're just showing some pity on him," asked Haruki straightly. "Then I must accept my fate. It's my own fault in the first place for falling for him," he responded. "If I am not dating Satoshi that time, I would easily say yes. I'm torn between these rifts, Haru-chan!" he added. "I guess, Megumi has the power to change people. Look at you. She just cut your hair and you grew this much! I am so proud of you, brother," said Haruki as a drop of tears fell from his beautiful, brown eyes. Haruki hugged Izumi tightly, and this caused Izumi to wail once more.

The next day…

"Wake up, you two! We're getting late for the ceremony!" said Haruki as he tried to wake the two by shaking their legs. "Ugh, 5… More… Minutes!" said Mitsuru. "Okay. Here's your 5-minute snooze!" said Haruki as he slapped Mitsuru hard in the face. Mitsuru was surprised and held his cheeks as he felt a burning sensation.

Meanwhile, Haruki shifted his mood and went directly to Mitsuru to pat his shoulder. "Are you okay, Mikkun? You're having a nightmare! You keep saying things like 'I want to eat Izumi. I want to gobble him up badly!'" said Haruki as he "sympathizes" with him.

"Shut up, Haruki! I wasn't dreaming about anything! And why did you include Izumi with that nonsense?" said Mitsuru while he started to blush. "Well, you did, Mikkun. I heard it loud and clear," followed up Izumi. "W-w-was I?" Mitsuru was embarrassed and couldn't look at the two properly. The two nodded quickly. "I want to die!!!" said Mitsuru as he curled in his blanket. This made Haruki even madder, and he started dragging his blanket. "What are you? A child?! WE'RE RUNNING LATE! STRIP AND I'LL GIVE YOU A BATH!" said Haruki angrily. "NOOOO!!" resisted Mitsuru. "I'll help you Haru-chan," said Izumi as he smirked devilishly. "GET AWAY FROM ME YOU CREEPS!" anguished Mitsuru. And in the end, they took a bath together.

"Whew! It's been a while since we took a bath together!" said Haruki. "Liar! You said we're running late! It's just 4 in the morning!" said Mitsuru as he submerged himself in the water. "Well, don't be so mad, Mikkun! I just wanted us to take a bath again together!" responded Haruki. "Besides, I missed you two always clashing here in the dorm. I've been lonely ever since, you know!" said Haruki as he started crying. "I appreciate the thought but…." For a minute, Mitsuru felt terrible, then he realized…

"…Wouldn't it be awkward for Izumi and me to bath together?! I mean, I confessed but I did it out of the blue! A-a-and we don't have any closure yet!" said Izumi as he was embarrassed and stuttered. Then out of the blue, Izumi suddenly laughed out loud. "We don't have any closure yet?" said Izumi as he began to laugh again. "You were the one who fetched me after my shift, right? Well, If you're worried about what you said and did to me, I understood that. We have been fooled by Satoru and no one is there to blame! I know you, Mitsuru. You just confessed because you wanted to protect us," said Izumi as he smiled genuinely. But the two noticed the deep sadness that lies beyond Izumi's eyes.

For Mitsuru, the sadness was caused by him. For what he did to him and not telling that he dated Satoshi, whose real identity was Satoru. For Haruki. It was for the decision that Izumi will make later. Then Izumi noticed a brief silence engulfed them and quickly initiated to finish the bath and get ready for the graduation rites.

Soon, they went to the school to attend the graduation rites. After the graduation rites, Akihiko and Kenzo went to the club room. Kenzo bids farewell to them. The whole club was surprised when the three arrived together since the club still thinks that they are all on bad terms. Megumi also showed up, clinging onto Izumi's arms. Then some of the club members asked if Satoshi and Mitsuru were dating.

"We are not dating. I was not here for a long time, and that was not me. It was my twin," said Satoshi as he smiled. "I am not dating anyone yet though," he added. When Izumi heard that, his heartbeat went faster. He was relieved when Satoshi glanced at him since it was their standard alibi to hide their relationship. Then after that, their farewell party started. They drank, ate, and played games. Then, Izumi approached Satoshi and talked to him. The club members were intrigued and lowered their voices to listen to their conversation.

"Yo, Iwamoto," said Izumi as he approached Satoshi and tapped his shoulder. "I didn't know your twin was alive. You said he was already dead though," asked Izumi. "Oh, I apologize about that, Shirogane-kun, I loathed him for a long time, so it's only natural for me to say he was dead," said Satoshi as he smiled. There was a lingering annoyance in his voice since he was the topic of the club members ever since he returned. Then, Izumi sat beside him. They acted just like a friend of each other to avoid suspicions. "It seems that others don't believe it. It's so exhausting to explain, and I sincerely apologize again for dragging you into this mess, Shirogane-kun. I am also grateful to Megumi-san. If it weren't for her, we would be still caught up in these false rumors," said Satoshi as he smiled at Megumi, who is sitting and clinging beside Izumi. "No problem, Satoshi-kun! I won't let anyone steal Izumi from me," said Megumi as he looked at his cousin. "Ugh, there she goes again. Proclaiming that she is the GIRLFRIEND of one of the hottest students on the campus," muttered Haruki as he was making a disgusted and mocking face towards his cousin. "DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM HARUKI?!" shouted Megumi as she clings harder to Izumi's arm. "NOTHING! I JUST DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR UGLY FACE HERE! IT'S RUINING MY DRINK!" shouted Haruki back. The members laughed at how these two treated each other.

"That reminds me, I want to talk to you, Shirogane-kun. Do you have time?" asked Satoshi. "Why not today? Let's go to a private place. I'm sure it's important," responded Izumi as he smiled. "Why did he say important? Why do I feel uneasy?" thought Satoshi. "Well then, let's go!" said Satoshi. "Excuse us for a bit, we're just going to smoke," said Izumi. Satoshi glanced at Megumi and Yuuji before going out. As for Izumi, he also glanced at Haruki. Mitsuru saw these actions, and suspicions arose inside him. He decided to follow them after they were entirely out.

The whole club was shocked. They knew Izumi never smokes. Suspicions arose immediately among the members. "Neh, Ishikawa!" said the club members. "Didn't Shirogane-senpai say he was not a smoker? We feel like there's going on between the two," they added. Before making any statement, he glanced at Megumi. Megumi signaled Yuuji to refute the idea. "Nope. It's true though that Izu-nii is not a smoker. But they went out to clear things on what happened between them involving his Iwamoto-senpai's twin," said Yuuji. "Well, check them out for us. Don't you even dare try to lie about what you'll witness!" they said. "Ugh! Fine!" said Yuuji as he walked out of the room.

Unbeknownst to each other's knowledge, they have a company with them. Satoshi already knew that he was accompanied by Megumi and Yuuji, and Izumi already knew that he was accompanied by Haruki. Haruki was shocked when he saw the two. He immediately ran towards them. "Hey, what the heck? Why are you two here?" asked the confused Haruki. "We were just going to ask the same thing! Why are you here?!" asked the also confused Megumi. A brief silence surrounded them, and when they realized the plan of each other, they were horrified, and Megumi started to weep.

"I-I never thought that they arrived at the same destination," said the weeping Megumi. Yuuji and Haruki hugged her. Meanwhile, Mitsuru wondered why Megumi was crying; he waited patiently for them to move forward. Since the rooftop is a vast space, Haruki, Yuuji, and Megumi hid on the left side of the stair tower, while Mitsuru hid on the right side.

"It's been a while since we had time for ourselves huh?" said Izumi. "Yeah. As always, your acting is flawless," said Satoshi as he chuckled. "I know, right?!" said Izum as he laughed. Then Satoshi proceeded to kiss Izumi. Their lips touched each other, and their tongue danced inside each other's mouths. Izumi then hugged Satoshi tightly and held and caressed Satoshi's hair. As they broke the kiss, they once again hugged each other, facing the opposite direction.

Then the most anticipated moment has finally happened.

"Let's break up" – Satoshi

"We should let each other free" – Izumi

As they said these words to each other, snow began to fall, and the wind anguished, showing empathy for the two. Meanwhile, Mitsuru couldn't contain his tears any longer. He hurriedly went down without noise and disappeared into the night. In contrast, three continued to listen and anticipated how their conversation would go…

Then, Izumi remembered all. Wonderful and pleasant memories came in nostalgia. Little did he know that those would eventually betray him.