A/N: The inspiration for this is Haruichi's outfit in one of the ending/opening animation sequences (can't remember which) wherein he's wearing black and white wingtips - very swing.
To Haruichi, there is nothing more comforting than the sound of Duke Ellington, Miles Davis or Ella Fitzgerald slightly crackly and a little tinny on the high notes. Ryosuke can't carry a tune to save his life, but he can beat out a rhythm and carry it rock solid. It's Haruichi who sings along with their mother while she does the dishes, hang out the laundry. The English sounds slightly awkward in their mouths, they make up words to fill in when the lyrics are too blurred to hear. Ryosuke will rata-tat-tat anything that will make a good sound and their dad will listen with a fond smile while they jam along to old favourites and feel their way through new acquisitions.
These are his most treasured memories, they keep him going through the rough times. When training beats him into the ground, when his brother seems like a different person, when he feels like the candle of hope in his chest is about to gutter and die. So when he hears the familiar refrain he can't stop himself from singing the first note, clear and bright, shifting up in harmony to the main line. His brother always teased him about not being able to reach the low register of his favourite singer - Ella Fitzgerald. It's alright, his voice hasn't broken yet, it means he can still sing the soprano harmony line above his mother, who always sings the main melody, when he's home during break. When he's older he'll be able to carry her songs, from start to finish, even if he has to fight to keep the high register.
He forgets, caught up in the nostalgia and the sense memories, that he's not at home. It's the middle of the week, he's at Seido, he's in front of his teammates. He wants to bury himself in a hole in the ground and weep; he might immolate from the sheer embarrassment of it.
"You can never resist the Lady, can you?" Ryo-nii sighs, patting Haruichi on the head. "You're such a dork for Ella Fitzgerald." He rolls his eyes, sucking in a noisy breath through his nose before poking Haruichi in the ribs and shepherding him out the door. "Training time, you need to work on your batting, not your pipes."
Haruichi is rarely thankful for his brother, at Seido they fall into a dynamic of ruthless competition far more often than brotherly support, but at that moment Haruichi would give up a chance at Nationals to his brother for getting him out of the common room. He's sure if he can just sneak quietly back into his dorm tonight, then it will all blow over by tomorrow - or practice will distract everyone enough they won't tease him mercilessly over it.
It doesn't work out that way. He gets caught by Kuramochi-senpai five steps from the freedom of hiding in his bunk, and pointedly ignoring everyone else until morning.