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"[…] And this is where your eyes leave me disarmed,

Breaking into a thousand little pieces my most rational part,

Little theory converted into a bunch of words, that fly back home on their own,

Ten centimeters away from you,

Ten years light away from tomorrow,

What do exact sciences matter if you and I are like this…?"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

In normal circumstances, Nagisa would've woke up by the feeling of being shaken into consciousness (courtesy of Rei, of course). Unfortunately for him, these were not normal circumstances; instead, he felt a sudden twinge in his stomach and, before he knew it, he was already barfing his dinner from last night, all the way to the toilet. When he finally felt the waves of nausea cease, he got up, wiped his mouth clean and flushed the toilet. He brushed his teeth and walked into the bedroom.

He entered silently, as if not to wake the bulge sleeping in the lower bed, when he was only a few centimeters from glasses boy he just stood there, watching. Staring at unspecific points. He looked somewhere else and his gaze stopped over the desk clock.

4:02 am.

At that hour, only night-time penguin keepers were awake for sure, at least according to Nagisa that is. He sighed to himself and returned his eyes to his friend. He panicked a little when he saw it moving.

"Nagi…sa-kun?" He asked with a sleepy voice before letting out a yawn. "You should get back to sleep, it will affect your everyday activities if you do otherwise." The blonde only hummed an affirmative response then rested aside Rei, feeling his heart race when an arm wrapped around his waist, he decided not to mind it.

The second time he woke up was because of the smell of coffee and toast. He looked a little at his surroundings and smiled, he yawned and stretched. He got up and headed towards the kitchen, where he was met by the sight of a cooking Rei, wearing an apron and smiling gently as he saw the blond.

"Good morning, Nagisa-kun. I was going to wake you up in the moment I finished making breakfast. I hope I didn't trouble you." He flipped the contents of the pan and handed the other one a pair of juice-filled glasses. "Could you please set this on the table, Nagisa-kun?"

"Of course." He did as he was told and stared at the bespectacled boy, awaiting for further instructions.

"I'm almost done with this, Nagisa-kun, you can sit already if you want." The blond nodded and obliged. Rei walked in minutes later, carrying a plate in each hand. "Here," he said, "I hope my pancakes are of your likings." He gave Nagisa a smile and set said food in front of an enthusiastic pink-eyed boy.

"Of course they are!" He exclaimed. "Anything Rei-chan makes sure is delicious!" The blue-haired boy blushed at the compliment and nodded, Nagisa clasped his hands together happily before saying "Thanks for the food!" And digging for the strawberry-flavor-syrup-covered pancakes as he did.

"Slow down, Nagisa-kun," Rei warned. "If you are not careful you may eventually choke on your food."

"Don't woddy, Dei-chan!" Nagisa said with his mouth full. He gulped and sipped down half of his orange juice. "I'm not gonna die over something meaningless like this." He smiled and took another, smaller and more careful bite.

They kept on like that for a few minutes, on a comfortable silence until a beeping sound distracted them for their meals.

"It's my phone," said Rei. "May I answer it, Nagisa-kun? It may be important." The blond nodded and gestured him to go freely, the other one thanked him and went to their bedroom as not to disturb Nagisa. The latter shrugged and continued digging on his pancakes.

"Hello? Makoto-senpai? Yeah. We're doing fine. That's good to hear. Really? Sure, I'll tell Nagisa-kun. Take care, Makoto-senpai. I will, good bye." He hung up and returned to the small table where they were having breakfast. Nagisa was no longer there, but in the kitchen cleaning his dish.

"Oh, you're finished, huh? I already got through my breakfast, hope it didn't upset you." He grabbed a towel near him and dried his hands with it.

"No, not at all." He cleared his throat with a cough and tried to remember what he had to tell the blond, only when it hit did he continue talking. "Nagisa-kun,"

"Hmm?"

"Makoto-sempai called and asked if we wanted to go out with them today." He returned to the table and decided it would be best if he finished his food.

"Of course, we haven't seen Mako-chan and Haru-chan, with how busy they got it's a rarity to talk, let alone hang out now days." He sighed and sat right next to Rei. "I think I should get ready then." He jumped out of his seat and hurried back to his bedroom.

He lifted both hands and stared. It was an important decision, no doubt about it. Should he wear the pink shirt with strawberries stamps in it, a yellow, sleeveless jacket? Or was the light blue sweater a better idea?

He needed someone to give him advice. Nagisa nodded and grabbed his phone, punched a number and waited for the person on the other side to answer.

"Nagisa-kun? Is something the matter?" Asked a feminine voice.

"Yes Gou-chan, you're a girl and know about fashion, right?" He clenched the phone in his hands as he talked.

"I think so… why do you ask, Nagisa-kun?"

"I just… erm… kind of need advice…" he explained the whole thing to Gou, and when he finished the girl just sighed.

"So it was just that? I thought you had an emergency going on. By the way, have you told anything to Rei-kun?" The blond stiffened, he knew he should but he just couldn't bring himself to it.

"Not yet, Gou-chan. But I will have to, eventually." He now sighed. It was getting more frustrating, he didn't like keeping secrets from Rei. And he wouldn't be doing so for much longer… he hoped.

"Fine. I suggest the pink shirt and the sleeveless jacket. It was nice talking to you, Nagisa-kun."

"The same applies for you, Gou-chan. Bye~" He hung up and finished the task at hand.

When he got out of the dorm he noticed Rei wasn't there. Must have gone for a jog…

He sighed and went to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and grabbed strawberries along with milk. He placed them over the counter for a few minutes, he turned around and grabbed a few kitchen utensils he might need. He started filling the cup with the pinkish fruits and flooded the rest with milk, until reaching the desirable measure. He then capped the cup and pressed "start".

He waited a few minutes and smiled when his smoothie was ready and filled glass he had placed nearby. He grabbed the glassed and sipped, enjoying the bittersweet taste of the strawberry. He licked his upper lip, preventing it from having a milk mustache; he giggled to himself. He lifted his gaze from the beverage because of a click in the door knob, meaning Rei had arrived home.

"Hi, Rei-chan!" He welcomed the other.

"Good afternoon, Nagisa-kun." He took his shoes and left them on the genkan. "You already dressed for our reunion with Makoto-senpai and Haruka-senpai, I see."

Nagisa turned around for Rei to admire his clothes fully, then chuckled. "Yep! Couldn't contain myself from it." He gave his friend a smile then walked over the counter. "I prepared some strawberry smoothie, do you want some?"

"I appreciate the thought, Nagisa-kun. But you know I'm not very fond of sweets," he adjusted his glasses ever so normal, pretending he wasn't seeing the broken look the blonde was giving him. Ok, he is just pretending to feel bad, do not fall for it. Do notfall for it…

"Awww but Rei-chan," he said, pouting. "It is just one glass it will do you no harm." He made his best puppy eyes and stared at his bespectacled friend, burning holes through him. Wait for it, wait for it…

Rei sighed, giving up. Then reluctantly reached for the offered glass. "Fine," that only, was enough to make the pink-eyed boy smile. "But just one sip." He warned, Nagisa nodded and approached closely to his friend.

In the end, not only did Nagisa manage to get Rei to drink a sip of the strawberry smoothie, but the whole glass, along with a few sweets (strawberry flavored, of course). So, after many treats, pouts, sighs and 'this is the last one's, they were finally on their way to the mall. The place where they had agreed to meet their friends.

Nagisa, as childish and hyperactive as he was, went running from one way to another, tiring in over manner Rei and making him wonder, how in the name of whatever existent science could his blond friend do all that without running out of energy. And there he was the previous member of the track team. He wondered if Nagisa had ever thought of joining, with all that stamina of his, he could've won a great deal of medals.

"Slow down, Nagisa-kun. You could trip if you're not careful."

"Don't worry Rei-chan. I'll be fine," he returned to his side. "See? No harm done." He smiled in reassurance. "I know how to be careful, Rei-chan. But it's just sooooo boring." He threw his arms to emphasize his argument. "Besides, it's not as if something has gone wrong, is it?" The blue-haired boy answered with silence. "C'mon, I'm sure Mako-chan and Haru-chan are already waiting for us, shall we hurry?" He smiled again and grabbed Rei's arm.

Not much time passed for them to arrive, when they reached the café's door, Nagisa eyed everywhere in hope to find his childhood friends. It took him less than five seconds to spot them, for it was almost impossible to mistake them. He started waving and screaming "Hey! Mako-chan, Haru-chan!" much to the annoyance of the other clients. He approached dragging Rei along with him. They reached the table and sat.

"Hi Mako-chan, long time no see." He got on the table to reach the brunette and hug him, Makoto had barely time to answer before Rei started scolding the blond.

"Nagisa-kun, you shouldn't get on tables like that, it's bad manners."

"Aww Rei-chan, don't be a party-pooper," he broke the embrace and got back at his seat. Haru stared at both.

He turned to the blond. "Nagisa," then to the one at his left, "Rei." Both boys nodded, taking it as a greeting.

"So," said Makoto, trying to start a conversation. "How have you guys been?"

When the waitress arrived, Nagisa ordered a slice of strawberry shortcake and some sort of chocolate milk shake; Rei asked for some salad and tea, the healthiest thing he found in the menu (though after the waitress had told him they had run out of salad he had to change it to some other dessert available); Haru said he'd have 'anything with mackerel on it' while Makoto asked for a cappuccino and a slice of cheese cake.

"It's nice seeing you after such a long time." Said Makoto, digging into his cheese cake. "And it's also nice to know you're both doing fine." He smiled and sipped his drink.

Time passed, and everyone could say they were having a good time. Between Haru's odd and misplaced comments, and Nagisa's embarrassing tales about their university life, all four of them were laughing their hearts out (well, Makoto and Nagisa were, Rei was too busy being flustered and Haru was way to stoic to do more than crack a smile).

"Yep, and you should've been there when Rei-chan fell asleep in the middle of a chemistry practice. A few experiments exploded and painted Rei-chan's face like a rainbow!" Nagisa said as he threw his arms as if to imitate said explosion.

"Nagisa-kun, could you please abstain yourself from telling such embarrassing anecdotes?" Rei asked for the umpteenth time that evening, but it seemed that the more requested it, the more Nagisa said such things. Soon enough, if not too soon, afternoon faded into evening and the hour for them to part ways was arriving at an alarming pace. It seemed as if an hour was barely ten minutes.

"Well, I think it's already time for us to go back, don't you think so, Haru?" The black haired boy gave a small, almost imperceptible, nod and stood up from his seat. Nagisa, Rei and Makoto followed suit.

Nagisa smiled and wrapped Haruka in a hug. The taller boy did nothing neither to return the hug nor to respond to it in the first few seconds. Almost a minute passed before Haru wrapped his own arms around the slightly smaller figure in front of him.

"Good luck." He said in the blonde's ear before breaking from the embrace.

"Hmm?"

"I said 'good luck', you'll need it with Rei, won't you?" Nagisa had only time to get surprised before nodding. As stoic as Haru was, he was also perceptive and somehow knew what was going on with the blond before even asking.

Makoto approached them, and after only hearing the last sentence he smiled. That classic smile of his. Nagisa nodded once again and took a step back, allowing Rei to say goodbye to his senpais.

"It was nice meeting you, Makoto-senpai, Haru-senpai." He bowed and both boys imitated him. Then, as if reciting a script, Haru said the same thing to Rei that he had said to Nagisa.

"Good luck."

"Huh?"

"Nee, Rei-chan, I think we should also go back to our room."

"Yeah."

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Hey there! Long time no see, huh? Yeah, sorry about that. It's just that, first I got all this work dumped on me, then I got writer's block, then when vacation started laziness took over. I was planning on uploading this chapter in December 17, Rei's birthday, but then, out of the sudden, all my word documents disappeared -w-… then I was planning on re-writing it and uploading it on Christmas, but it wasn't finished by then. So I took my holy time to finish it and here it is. In any case, I'm really sorry. I hope next chapter doesn't get delayed that much. *faints*

Bringonthefanfic: thanks for leaving a comment, it was nice:) so the idea will stay like that.

Again, I'm very sorry for the long wait, I hope I can finish chapter 5 sooner, taking 2 week as a longest.

Matane!