Reward
There is more to this than a victory.
The roar from the stadium is muffled and far, the cheers a haze, and Haruka's eyes move before he can try to control them. He lets them slide over his friends, from face to face. What he finds is the picture of happiness.
It is the thousandth time he sees Rei tear up, but the chance to feel it so close is rare. How shame and fear were burned away, step by step, by the sheer joy of simply being there — that is what surprises him the mosts in his tears. His emotions swell, and his gaze shifts ahead.
Makoto can find silence even at times like this. Green eyes open to him, serene and full, and he can see everything — how he is fighting to treasure all they have had, and will have from now on, from his corner of patience. Haruka looks left, wrapped by the certainty he will always have someone to lean on.
And Nagisa won't stop repeating his name, in a flurry of emotion and laughter. The way he pours himself in everything he does never ceased to amaze him. He is a little thing with the biggest heart in the world, and he loves him, and he will never know how to repay him for existing like that.
It is so much more than a victory, or a trophy without a name. There will be no need to reminisce, to feel nostalgic about the past. Nothing could ever make him forget this sight.
And then, since he is part of it all, Haruka understands he should do something as well — right there, right now, in the arms of his friends.
So he smiles.