Warnings: OOCness, English is not my first language, not beta'd
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended.
A/N: This was an old draft written before S3 aired. I finally cleaned it out ヽ(*▽* )ノ
First published on my AO3 on December 26, 2018
Rin grinned upon a slumbering Sousuke.
Sousuke had his mouth slightly agape, clutching the shark stuffed toy he gave Rin. The blanket was pooled on the floor so Rin picked it up and draped it over Sousuke.
It wasn't the first time that he had seen his best friend asleep. Having grown up together and then eventually sharing a dorm room, Rin was accustomed to Sousuke's soft snores and sleeping habits. Still, when Rin saw him at his couch hugging a stuffed toy that he gave to him, his heart skipped a beat. It felt like last night when he saw Sousuke waiting for him at Sydney Airport.
But changing feelings or not, Sousuke was still his best friend, and if anything, best friends played pranks on each other, especially with the type of competitive friendship that they had.
So Rin, grinning upon a slumbering Sousuke, took a Sharpie from the pencil holder and doodled on his friend's face, just like the old times.
In a cafe in Tokyo, Haruka's phoned chimed. Before university, he always forgot about the existence of his phone, but now that his closest friends are scattered all over the country—and the world—his phone was now always on his person. Besides, Makoto living a train ride away instead of just an arm length's from his own place practically required him to have his phone with him at all times.
But that doesn't mean that he'll check his phone every time it made a sound. His parents and Makoto's calls and messages have their assigned ringtones, so when those assigned ringtones weren't what sounded off from his phone, he tended to ignore them.
"Aren't you going to check that, Haru?" Makoto asked. They spent most of their free time together whenever they can. As such, Haruka's flat was as much as Makoto's, as Makoto's flat was as much as his.
"Later," Haruka said, and went back to answering his homework. Really, why did he have to have lectures in uni? Why couldn't he just have swimming classes all the time?
"It could be important," Makoto argued.
"It could be not."
Makoto sighed and gave Haruka a fond but exasperated smile. He turned back to his homework and they both did their assignments in companionable silence.
Some minutes later, Makoto's phone chimed, and because he's not like Haruka, he checked it immediately.
"Rin messaged me to tell you to check your phone," Makoto said.
Haruka rolled his eyes. "Why do I have to do anything he says?"
"Just check your phone, Haru."
Haruka huffed. "Must be unimportant if it's from Rin," but checked his phone nonetheless.
The message from Rin was a photo of him grinning and doing a peace sign, and at his back was a sleeping Sousuke with funny marks on his face.
"See? Nothing important. I wonder why he couldn't just send it to you instead." Haruka said, and showed the photo to Makoto.
Makoto looked at the photo and chuckled. "Why do you think Nagisa keeps on sending me videos of scary stuff? Because it's fun for them."
Haruka glared at him. He then held his phone aloft and then said, "Makoto, look at the camera."
"Huh?" Makoto mumbled, but before he had any chance to get an explanation, Haruka kissed his cheek, and he heard the telltale sound of a camera shutter.
"H-Haru! We're in public!" Makoto blanched, looking around to see if anyone had seen them. Thankfully, nobody paid them attention, and Makoto's panic subsided.
Makoto looked over Haruka's shoulder to see what the picture was for. Haruka sent the photo he had just taken to Rin.
"That's not very nice, Haru."
"It's his fault. I don't care about his love life. Or its nonexistence."
But Makoto gave him a knowing smile which seemingly said, You say that, but I know you care.
Sometimes, Haruka hated how much Makoto knew him.
Some minutes later, his phone chimed again, this time with a text message from Rin saying, Why the hell would you send that to me?!
Haruka thought about pots and kettles and wasted no time in replying just to get it over and done with. Just tell him how you feel, was his reply to Rin.
In Australia, Rin ground his teeth. "Easy for you to say," he muttered.
Sousuke was still sleeping, and Rin's doodles were still on his face. The doodles didn't make him look horrible, though; you can still see his handsome face underneath, and—
What am I thinking?!
Rin could feel that there was definitely something beyond friendship between him and Sousuke. He has already acknowledged his feelings, but he can't be too sure about Sousuke's. What if he's wrong? What if he's just imagining things? What if—
"Good morning, Rin," Sousuke, bleary-eyed, gravelly voiced, shark-stuffed-toy-hugging Sousuke, said. "Why are you staring at me?"
"Uh..." Rin intelligently said.
"You drew something on my face, didn't you?"
"I—Wha—I didn't—"
And then Sousuke laughed, voice a deeper than usual, his body shaking with the sleepy laughter.
"We grew up together, in case you forgot," he said, rubbing his eyes.
"If I forgot, would you be lying on my couch right now with a face that's been doodled on by Sharpies?"
"Guess I wouldn't," Sousuke said. He stood up, placing the shark stuffed toy on the couch, and strode towards the bathroom.
"You made breakfast yet?" he asked.
"What am I, your wife?" Rin answered. He could have said 'mother' instead of 'wife', but his mouth moved before he could even think, resulting in his face getting as red as his hair.
"Hm," Sousuke said, imitating the look of one in deep thought and placed fingers under his chin for added effect. "Actually, I'd prefer it if you were my husband."
"What—Sousuke—You can't just say things like that!" Rin said, blushing even deeper if that was possible.
"Well then, hubby, I'm going to the bathroom to erase these love marks, and then we can have our breakfast."
The door to the bathroom closed, but not before Rin could yell, "Sousuke!"
Really, why was he in love with this idiot?
