Disclaimer: I do not own Free!
Cross-posted from my writing blog. Written under suggestion of Fallenprinsu.
Lying awake alone in his room, Haruka kept shifting around to find a comfortable position to resume his journey to dreamland. His mind was filled with a number of thoughts but the mainly it was about Makoto and of course, swimming.
He peeked at his alarm clock through the corner of his eye and found out that 14 minutes have passed since he lied down and he's still wide awake, staring at the blank wall. When he can't sleep, he thinks. When he thinks, it leads to overthinking over problems that may not have existed at all and that will make his nerves wrecked in anxiety although he never showed it on his face.
Suppress, don't let them worry. By far, he can't really be honest with his feelings around anyone but the one who will always figure out the emotions spiralling in his chest would be his childhood friend, Makoto. Without a fail he will always know what Haruka wants and what Haruka feels.
The spot next to him on the bed feels cold and he yearned for Makoto's warmth. His hand reached out for the empty space and once again he felt hollow all over again. The house lacked any residents except for himself. No father, no mother; only himself. Usually the deafening silence would be replace with the rhythmic breaths of the green-eyed male sleeping soundly next to him. It was comforting even.
Makoto's lack of presence was replaced with an orca plush. A mid size plush won over at the summer festival by Makoto was given to him as a form of remembrance and as a substitute of him whenever he's not around Haruka at night.
Haruka's arms encircled around the soft toy, hugging it closely to his chest and nuzzling his nose onto it. The smooth fur of the plush tickled his nose and gave a very familiar, yet warming scent that puts him to ease. He closed his eyes and the sound of the ticking clock slowly faded into the background.
'Makoto….'
His last thoughts were of Makoto as he went asleep with the orca plush in his tight embrace.