Hello! It's been forever since I've posted anything on here. I've been hanging around pretty much exclusively on AO3 lately, so there's why.
Since I finally took some time to write something somewhat serious, I figured I might as well post it here as well.
This will have 3 chapters altogether.
I'd love to know what you think!
In the summer, after graduating high school, Haruka spent as much time as possible with all of his friends. Inevitably, as Sousuke was one of Rin's closest friends, whenever the group went out, Sousuke also tagged along. It became a common thing to have Sousuke hang around. At first, Haruka didn't like it too much. Sousuke and his relationship was still rather stiff. He realized that for Rin's sake, they should've been working on it, but truthfully, he wasn't feeling up to it. He just wanted to spend some time with his friends, enjoying the last of their carefree days, not deal with Sousuke and his mood swings.
Sousuke had started warming up to him more, slowly but surely. Even so, he was still far from being casually friendly. Haruka knew he was actually a good guy. If he hadn't been, he wouldn't have been friends with Rin. It was that simple. But it was rare for him to show his better sides towards Haruka. He didn't really care about it himself, but he noticed that it bothered Rin, thus, he found himself considering trying to start up a conversation with the fellow graduate, to ease the tension between them, if only a little.
However, as things turned out, he didn't need to make the effort himself, as Sousuke was the one who took the first initiative, surprisingly enough.
Makoto, Rin, Haruka and Sousuke had all decided to go for a jog in the park that morning. After spending a couple of hours running, they came across a park bench and decided on a break. Rin spotted a vending machine not too far away from the place, so he pulled Makoto along with him to fetch them all some drinks.
Meanwhile, Sousuke sat down casually on the bench, letting out a deep breath as he wiped some sweat from his forehead with the towel around his shoulders. Haruka spent a full minute just staring at the bench, pondering whether to sit down next to the bigger guy or not.
Sousuke glanced at him, sighing in exasperation as he took note of his inner turmoil.
"Come on, Nanase. Just sit down. I'm not going to bite, you know."
Haruka said nothing, but obeyed his words, seating himself.
Neither of them being much of a talker, they stayed silent for a moment, until Haruka decided to speak up.
"Well, you never know.." he said cryptically, causing Sousuke to turn his head towards him.
"Huh?"
"About the biting."
"Ah.. What I'm saying is, I'm not as bad as you might think. Why'd Rin wanna be friends with a bad guy anyway?"
Haruka cracked a small smile.
"I was just kidding. Relax. I don't hold anything against you."
Sousuke stared at his face, dumbfounded over seeing anything but a pokerface adorn his features.
"I see.. That's good then..," he drawled, looking away awkwardly.
"Even if you were quite the jackass towards me before, when you thought of me as a threat," Haruka continued unexpectedly.
"Hey! Uh.. I guess you're actually right." Sousuke scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that. Don't take it too personally."
"It's okay. I didn't really care anyway."
"Just like Nanase," Sousuke thought, rolling his eyes, but smiling in amusement.
"You sure are talkative today," he pointed out.
Haruka seemed surprised at the comment, as if he hadn't noticed it himself.
"I guess."
He shrugged.
That was the moment Rin and Makoto decided to return with their drinks, effectively cutting off any more conversation between the two quiet ravens.
Haru spent the next days with Makoto, Rei and Nagisa. Rei and Nagisa were clearly saddened over the fact that he and Makoto were about to leave them and move on with life, but they did their best not to show it too much, acting cheerful and energetic. Neither Haruka nor Makoto wanted to ruin their last days together either, so they kept up the pretense that they didn't notice a thing.
About a week since their last encounter, Haruka met Sousuke again when he, Rin and the rest of the group went swimming. Sousuke was there, but he didn't swim. He just watched the others with a longing look in his eyes.
When the others headed for the showers, Haruka got up from the pool and padded over to Sousuke, who was still looking enthralled, as if he hadn't seen a pool in ages. Haruka didn't know why, but he had the sudden urge to say something. Watching that boy made him feel irritated somehow.
"Why don't you just swim?" he inquired as he stood in front of the other, arms crossed.
Sousuke glanced up at him, startled out of his apparent reverie.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Just sitting there isn't going to do anything good for your shoulder. And you know it. So why?"
Sousuke's head fell and he glared at the ground.
"It's none of your business," he bit out, sounding more harsh than intended.
Haruka shifted his weight, pushing his wet bangs out of his eyes.
"It may not directly be, but I consider Rin's business to be my business, so indirectly, yes it is."
Sousuke ground his teeth together, looking at the other crossly.
"Fine. I'll tell you."
He took a deep breath, calming himself.
"It's just that Rin will get his hopes up, if I swim. I don't want that to happen again. I want him to really understand that I can never except to be able to swim professionally."
Haruka rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, he can be quite thick skulled and stubborn sometimes. But seriously, don't let that stop you from doing what you want. I can see how obviously much you want to swim. Your shoulder can handle a bit of it, right?"
Sousuke nodded hesitantly, perplexed by the dolphin boy's concern. He had never heard him talk half as much. It was a lot to take in.
"Well then, why don't you swim a bit now, when Rin's not looking? I can keep watch."
"Uh.. No, it's fine, I can go on my own later or something."
But Haruka wasn't convinced.
"You want someone to keep you company, don't you?"
Teal eyes widened as Sousuke stared at him, shocked by how easily he saw through him.
He felt his cheeks heat up slightly. He was such a child.
"I just get really into it when I'm swimming, so I sort of need someone to tell me if there are any visible changes in my shoulder. Sometimes it gets red, if I don't take it easy enough. The doctor has allowed me to swim, but.. not to strain my shoulder too much, obviously."
Haruka stared back at him.
"So in other words, you haven't swum at all since summer started, have you?"
Sousuke averted his eyes, almost as if he felt guilty over something.
Haruka sighed.
"Then let's meet up here later."
He said the words with such finalization that Sousuke found it too difficult to protest.
"Eh.. okay, if you're fine with it."
"Sure I am. I can swim any day any time."
Suddenly, Rin poked out his head from the shower room, shouting to them.
"Oi, what are you two doing over there? Haru, get over here already! The rest of us are heading to the locker room!"
He glanced between Sousuke and Haru curiously, then shrugged once and disappeared back into the shower room.
Haru waited a few seconds to make sure Rin was gone before continuing.
"6 pm. I'll be waiting."
Sousuke looked at his watch for the umpteenth time. It was three minutes before 6 and he was waiting for Haruka by the empty local Iwatobi pool. He was just about to start up another round of warm ups for his shoulder when the dolphin boy finally showed himself.
"I thought you were the one who was going to be waiting," he said teasingly.
Haruka walked up to him.
"Don't complain. We're doing this for your sake, remember?" Haruka stated flatly, obviously not one for joking around.
"Yeah yeah, I know, and I appreciate it."
Haruka looked directly at him for the first time since arriving, huffing slightly.
"Anyway, let's get in the pool," he stated.
"Getting straight to the point. I like that," Sousuke grinned.
They were both the straightforward types after all. Perhaps they would be getting along better than any of them would have expected.
They did as Haru had suggested and Haru watched Sousuke carefully as he entered the water, massaging his shoulder in the process.
"Hey, loosen up a bit. You don't need to watch me that intently," Sousuke tried, feeling awkward under the watchful gaze.
But Haru neither replied, nor did he have any intentions of letting up on watching the other like a hawk. It was what he was there for. Of course, getting to swim at the same time was a bonus.
Frankly, he had no idea why he'd even had the impulse to help the hopeless Samezuka graduate in the first place. He could use the excuse that it was for Rin, but the truth was that seeing Sousuke looking so helpless had somehow caused him to feel frustrated and wanting to do something to wipe that helplessness away. If nothing else, it was the least he could do for a fellow swimmer. Moreover, he personally couldn't imagine not being able to swim anymore, so he couldn't even begin to fathom how horrible Sousuke must have felt when he'd realized something was seriously wrong with his shoulder and that swimming only made it worse. Thankfully, and Haru was relieved for his sake too, he didn't have to completely give up swimming. He'd have to change direction of his dreams, but he could still have swimming as a hobby. It certainly was better than nothing.
"We'll be swimming free today.." Haruka started, but was interrupted mid-sentence.
"Do you ever even swim any other style?"
"Nope," Haruka stated simply. "But that's not the reason. The point is for you to swim free. It'll be easier on your shoulder than butterfly. And you're good at both, right?"
Sousuke nodded thoughtfully.
"You've really thought this through," he pointed out.
"It's just common sense. You can rely more on your feet in freestyle."
"You have a good point. Well, alright then. Let's do it."
"Yes, just take it easy on your shoulder. I shouldn't have to tell you twice."
Sousuke rolled his eyes, feeling like he was a child getting lectured.
"Yes sensei," he muttered as he sank completely into the water and began swimming leisurely.
Haru swam beside Sousuke, keeping his calculative gaze on him.
They kept it up for about half an hour, when Haru suggested they take a break.
As they sat on the bench along the poolside, Sousuke watched the water droplets fall from Haruka's hair onto the floor, feeling almost hypnotized by the irregular movements.
"Yamazaki," Haruka spoke suddenly, sharply, pulling the other from his trance.
"Yeah?" he questioned, trying to sound composed.
"Let me massage your shoulder for a bit."
Sousuke looked incredulous, so Haruka clarified.
"It's supposed to be good for injured body parts."
Sousuke still looked skeptical, but Haruka didn't give up.
"Just turn your back towards me," he ordered, his impatience starting to show through.
Doing as told, Sousuke let Haruka do whatever he wanted to his shoulder.
Haruka slid his hands onto both of Sousuke's shoulders, marveling at how broad they were. Slowly, he began kneading tight circles into them.
At first, it didn't hurt at all, but when Haruka pressed both palms into his injured shoulder, Sousuke let out a pained "ouch!"
Haru continued his ministrations, ignoring him until he almost got tears in his eyes from the pain.
Sousuke let out a relieved breath when he finally stopped.
"Jeez, you're harsh!" he whined.
"Hey now, I didn't say it'd feel good. An effective massage always hurts a little.. It's only natural it'd hurt more for you."
Haruka gave him a sidelong glance as he turned back around.
"Not knowing something like this, I bet you've never had a massage in your life. That's not good for a swimmer."
"Ugh, well, I'm not a swimmer anymore," Sousuke shot out bitterly.
"We're not talking professionals here. One can still be a swimmer, even if it's nothing but a hobby."
"Hobby huh.. Guess I've never considered it."
Sousuke was thoughtful, but determined as he stood up.
"Shall we continue?"
He held his hand out for Haruka, but Haruka simply slapped it away and stood on his own, ever the independent person.
Sousuke frowned slightly, but refrained from commenting on the rude gesture. It was probably just a Nanase Haruka quirk anyway.
As they returned to swimming, Haruka insisted on being up close and not letting Sousuke swim too far at once. He'd tell him to stop randomly and inspect his shoulder like an overprotective mother hen. Sousuke couldn't help wondering what brought the change in attitude on, but some part of him found it a slight bit endearing.
In the showers afterwards, he asked him about it, but Haruka only claimed that he was simply being serious about his task. Secrectly, he didn't really understand why he was babying Sousuke either, making that answer as good as any.
Before the two boys parted ways, they made plans to meet the same day the week after. Sousuke was initially reluctant to 'steal Haruka's time,' but Haru quickly shot down that notion, calling it ridiculous. After all, he could go in the pool. No matter the time, place or occasion, that was and would always be a positive thing to him.
Please note: Any 'facts' I might include about swimming or pretty much ANYTHING is just made up. I mean, there might be truth in it, I don't know. I'm just guessing, writing stuff that seems like it might be true on some level. I don't really know anything about the different swimming styles though, so don't get too upset if I make a mistake, please. T_T