Chapter Text
It all starts on the first Tuesday of the semester, when Sousuke sits beside Haruka for his last class that they both unknowingly shared. It is his last class for the day and for Thursdays as well. Sitting down beside him, all he gets is a nod of acknowledgement from Haruka, who then continues to stare his emotionless stare at their professor who droned on and on about how economics changed the world.
“Hey, Na- Haruka,“ Sousuke says in a low voice. Calling him by his first name feels so foreign on his tongue. But he just needs to call him that; to show him that they don’t really dislike each other (dislike is an understatement) anymore, and Sousuke hopes he noticed the effort that he made. Calling him Nanase just didn’t sound right to him anymore, as he associated it with his unfair antagonism he felt towards the other man before. Haruka turns fractionally towards him, focusing his stare at him.
“You joined the swimming club yet?” He sees ocean blue eyes that wavered and then stilled over a millisecond.
“No.”
The short and curt answer that Haruka gave Sousuke makes him not press on the topic any further. He only hums noncommittally, pretending to not find anything weird about what he just learned. He was shocked, but Haruka’s decisions were his and he respected that, especially with the situation he’s in himself.
Sousuke fidgets on his seat for a bit, trying but miserably failing to look like he’s comfortable with the atmosphere he created.
“How about you?” Haruka’s voice was quiet, and Sousuke would have thought that it was only in his imagination.
“Me?” Sousuke replies, bewildered.
“Swimming.”
Oh. His right hand reflexively touched his left shoulder.
“No. Shoulder problem, remember?” Sousuke smiles bitterly at that. He braces himself for hearing Haruka say how much of a waste it is, or that was why he couldn’t follow Rin to his university, or if therapy could fix it for him. He doesn’t need pity from him. He doesn’t need pity from anyone.
But no response came from the other man. He waits for the impact of his words, or the look of pity most people gave him that he absolutely hated. But Haruka merely nodded and resumed not to look at him. Sousuke lets out a sigh of relief; a breath that he did not realize he held all this while.
He lets himself sink in his seat, as he looked at Haruka again in a new and brighter light.
“Last class?” Sousuke asks Haruka, after a gruesome hour and a half, as the people inside the hall already started packing their stuff and some already filing out for their freedom. It wasn’t like Sousuke to be so forward with anyone, but he wants to try being actual friends with Haruka, and not just tolerating each other’s presence whenever their friends meet (and dragging the both of them along).
Haruka, as per usual, only nods in response and heads out for the door.
“Haruka!” Sousuke calls out, catching Haruka by the front door. Sousuke intended to grab him by the wrist but promptly stopped when sees Haruka turning around with a slightly confused look on his face.
“Where do you go home to?” He blurts out, Haruka and even he himself had no idea what the hell he was doing.
Sousuke couldn’t read Haruka’s expression accurately like Makoto probably did, but he was sure that the other guy was very much amused with his actions.
“Three blocks from here. Why?” Haruka asks, almost suspicious in the way it sounded.
“Let’s go home, then,” Sousuke strides towards the door. He looks back at Haruka who was still rooted in his place. Sousuke nods at the other man, as if to say to follow him. Haruka only shrugs, but follows him anyway.
-
Sousuke realizes a little too late how much of a routine he and Haruka have fallen into every Tuesdays and Thursdays over the span of a few weeks. He doesn’t know about Haruka’s opinion on said matter, but Sousuke, as much as he doesn’t want to admit, looks forward to walking home with him on the said days.
It wasn’t intentional, and Sousuke is sure back then that he actually wants to avoid Haruka just because of the awkwardness between them because, let’s face it: the two of them have just started scratching the surface of friendship after establishing the fact that they decided not to dislike each other after an action-packed water gun fight. It was all nice and sappy, with the way they called out each other’s names before the boys of Iwatobi left, and having Rin tease him about it all night.
Nothing much has changed between the both of them for the past month they have non-verbally agreed upon going home twice every week. It was until one Thursday afternoon that Sousuke thought of Rin; of how casual their friendship was when they lived together in the dormitories of Samezuka. He compares their casual friendship: body tackling each other, hanging off each other’s shoulders, arm wrestling (on his good shoulder’s arm), and casual friendly affection that men had. Sousuke longed for physical contact, to be honest, and he missed Rin because of it. They were physically distant, and rough-housing became a part of their bonding and how they have gotten close with each other.
He thinks about Haruka and became aware of the fact that he hasn’t touched Haruka since the first time they went together. Sousuke didn’t really know why it was so much important to him.
With Haruka, it was all nods and silent understanding. It was Sousuke doing something stupid and Haruka would scoff at him. It was of Sousuke teasing Haruka just to get a reaction out of him. Sousuke thinks that the both of them are casual and formal at the same time with each other. It was a switch that turns on and off for them, and Sousuke, after countless musings, finds out that he wants to be close with Haruka, and he wants the other to feel the same about him. He doesn’t want to be that person who only forces Haruka to go home with him every Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Sousuke wants to try something, and he passes it off to himself as a social experiment that is Haruka Nanase.
He glances at Haruka, turning his head to the side as marginally as possible, hoping that the other man wouldn’t notice. His palms start to sweat as he tentatively tries to stretch his arm behind Haruka, retracting it back after panicking. Why was this so hard?
They pass through the second block, and Sousuke feels nervous. One more block and he loses his chance to try out his experiment.
He looks at Haruka again, and zeroes in on the pale skin of his neck and he gulps in anticipation. He imagines himself when he was still allowed to race, that feeling of exhilaration as he stretches into diving position. He imagines the faint smell of chlorine as he snaps his goggles into place. He visualizes his opponents at his sides, it was a competition, and he needs to win. He stretches his body, potential energy waiting to be released through fueled adrenaline. The shrill tone of the whistle pierces through the air-
Sousuke puts his arm around Haruka’s shoulder, and it was unintentionally forceful that it dragged the other man down. His heart was pounding so hard against his chest and he forces himself to look at Haruka for a reaction.
Haruka’s eyebrows are furrowed and his eyes were boring into Sousuke’s own. It was either really hot today or Haruka is (his temperature), because Sousuke started sweating bullets.
“What are you doing?” Haruka asks, but doesn’t make any motion of wanting Sousuke to let go of him, which is really encouraging for him.
Sousuke composes himself and tries to sound as casual as he can. “I’m putting my arm around your shoulder, dumbass.”
Haruka frowns at that, or pouts if you ask Sousuke. It was adorable, really.
“Why?” Haruka asks again, as though he cannot comprehend or grasp the logic as to why Sousuke would even do that.
“Why not?” Sousuke asks back with a shrug. He wants to laugh out of nervousness, but keeps himself from doing so because Haruka might think he’s making fun of him.
“You’re stupid.” Sousuke only smiles at that.
It was only after a few minutes that Sousuke regained his senses. He ponders on how nice it actually feels to have his arm around Haruka’s shoulders. He was warm and smelled faintly of soap. It would take a lot of time to get used to this, because his heart just won’t calm down even after passing the third block. Five more houses until they reach Haruka’s dormitory, and two blocks more for Sousuke.
They stop in front Haruka’s dormitory, which looks a little run down in Sousuke’s own opinion. He asked Haruka before why he chose this instead of something more modern, and Haruka just shrugged and told him that the fish market was just around the corner. It was a typical and predictable Haruka Nanase type of answer. What did Sousuke even expect?
“I’ll see you on Tuesday, then?”
"You can let go of me now, Sousuke."
"Oh."