Pale moonlight streamed in through the open window, painting Sousuke's bed in an eerie white glow. In the shared dormitory room, the soft laughter of two voices could be heard.

From his side of the room, the raven-haired swimmer could see Makoto had his emerald eyes fixed on some indistinct spot on the ceiling. He, himself, propped up by an elbow, was staring at the form of the slightly smaller man on the opposite side of the room.

A pregnant silence fell upon the room, chasing away the last echoes of their conversation. Feeling sleep slowly take hold, Sousuke laid on his back, pulling the covers over his bare shoulders.

As he was settling in, Makoto quickly mumbled something the other didn't quite catch.

"What was that?" Sousuke questioned sleepily, yawning as he shifted to face the brunet.

"I was... thinking of telling someone I like him. Tomorrow." He paused. "What do you think?"

A wave of dread swept over turquoise eyes, washing away any trace of sleep. But dread swiftly gave way to a surge of irrational anger. Unable to mask the tang of irritation in his voice, Sousuke answered with a scowl, sitting back up.

"Why've I never heard of this before? I mean, the past few weeks, you never so much as mentioned a crush or anything."

"I-I just couldn't find the right time to bring it up, I guess," replied the backstroke swimmer, slightly taken aback by the sudden shift in the taller man's disposition.

In his head, Sousuke was roaring in frustration. But on the outside, all he could voice was a simple, "well, who is the mystery guy?" a sliver of annoyance still present in his words.

Unsure whether a straightforward answer would only agitate his friend further, the smaller man cautiously answered, playing with his fingers. "Uhm, you'll find out sooner or later."

A sigh escaped the lips of the butterfly swimmer as he laid back down and his voice returned to its normal flat tone.

"Why do you want to do this?"

Noting Sousuke's regular tone, the smaller man eased up.

"Well, I've had these feelings for a while now and I've been meaning to tell him. But... I realized that I would never be able to do it if I didn't give myself a deadline," he said, half laughing at himself as he ended his sentence.

He let out a deep breath.

"Things have just been going so great and I sometimes feel something more between us, you know? I honestly don't know if I'm putting our friendship on the line here, but I just don't want to live with the 'what if's hanging over me for the rest of my life."

Hearing this, the teal-eyed realized just how much this must mean to the brunet; so much that the normally passive Makoto actually dared to take action and take such a leap of faith. But more than that, he saw how nothing he said could ever sway his friend from this. Thus, Sousuke conceded with a sigh.

"This better not be some prick who's just gonna break your heart in a week. Then I'd have to go hunt this shit down and beat the crap out of him. And I'd honestly rather not go through the trouble."

The smaller man stayed silent, smiling fondly at his overly protective friend.

"So, is he good enough for you?" The butterfly swimmer asked.

Caught off guard by this question, the brunet hesitated before answering. "To be honest, I think he's too good for me..."

Sousuke turned to look into emerald eyes. "Makoto, there is absolutely no one out there too good for you. Nobody is good enough for you."

"You're... Perfect," he thought to himself, turning to face the window to hide the growing shade on his face.

"Well, I think he is. But don't worry about it, Sousuke. I'm sure you'll like him more than you think."

Even though he was staring out the window, Sousuke could feel Makoto smiling warmly at him. His reply came as a simple grunt. And once again, then there was silence.

"Goodnight, Sousuke," said the brunet.

"You too."

The raven-haired heard the covers on the other bed being pulled over the other's muscular frame.

As Makoto slept soundly, on the other side of the room, a fist crumpled the sheets.

"Why can't I just be happy for him?" Sousuke thought with clenched teeth.