Disclaimer: I do not own Tsuritama.
The summer is hot, white and humid and Natsuki has been coming over a lot lately. It's always Haru who opens the door for him, who asks "are we going fishing today?" and Natsuki who answers, "maybe later."
For the most part, Natsuki ignores him. Not cruelly, not on purpose, but it's like his radar is only fixed on one blipping dot that moves closer and closer into his line of sight.
"Oh, it's you Natsuki," Yuki calls from the kitchen.
"Yeah," he answers casually and patiently waits in the hallway for Yuki to clean up the dishes that Haru broke.
"Sorry about that," Yuki says as he finishes, the porcelain making one last high-pitched cry as it's dumped into the trash. "So what did you want to do today?"
"We could go fishing," he suggests and Haru feels a smile tug at his lips.
"Or we could..." Natsuki eyes Haru, a soft acknowledgement that means so much more than just looking at somebody, "...do something else."
And the tugging feeling is gone.
"Umm, yeah..." And Yuki gives him the same look, but Haru is used to such looks. He pouts and tries to tell Yuki through his eyes that he doesn't understand such complex human communication.
"Hey Haru, did you water the plants today?"
That gains a smile. "I watered them this morning, but now that I think about it they should get more water. The summer is sucking them dry."
Yuki smiles and Natsuki smiles and even though he's an alien, Haru can play at complex human communication too.
"Well, I'll go water them now." He walks out of the house in his usual unusual gait. It's not just the plants that need water, he knows. He feels dry too. As if the whole conversation has drained him somehow.
When he gets back into the house, dripping with delicious water, no one is in the hallway. No one is in the kitchen. It feels like a barren wasteland and he looks accusingly at the tables and chairs and refrigerator and stove. Homes shouldn't feel like this, should they? Even though this isn't his home planet, it's still supposed to be hishome.
He continues upstairs, the stairs creaking with the sound of his unsure steps. That's when he hears it. Soft, hurried whispers and rough, contented sighs. He knows he shouldn't get close, that those sighs are part of the forbidden world of human interaction that he won't have any hope of understanding. But he climbs the stairs anyway.
Yuki's door is ajar and from the slit he can see the both of them, skin on skin, like they are fighting with their mouths and legs and arms. But they both seem to like it.
Haru keeps out of sight and doesn't make a sound. It's easy for him if he tries. He wonders what's so fun about rising and falling on a bed that fishing has to wait for.
Although...
Although it does looks wet. They're both sweating and they sound like they're having fun. And even though he's an alien, Haru knows they don't want him there for a reason. When he tried to get close to Yuki like that, didn't the other push him away?
He waits downstairs in the hush of the kitchen. There's not much he can do there but it's better to wait in the shadows of the house than in the too hot summer sun. Before long Yuki and Natsuki come back down. They look like they both woke up from a nap, hair disarranged and eyes heavy-lidded.
"Oh, Haru. You're here? How long have you been down here?" Yuki asks, something like fear and humiliation lacing his voice.
"I just got in," Haru smiles. "I was talking to Coco." He swings his legs on the chair to imitate his usual behavior.
"Okay," Yuki sounds relieve. "Alright then."
Natsuki eyes him suspiciously, but doesn't say anything. "I have a few things to take care of, but we can go fishing later this afternoon."
"Let's," Yuki agrees.
The three of them are quiet for a while, as if waiting for something.
"Are you coming, Haru?"
"Oh," Haru jumps out of the chair. "Of course!"
Natsuki heads for the door. "Good. I'll see you guys later."
"See you."
"Bye Prince!" Haru calls after him.
Then it's just the two of them, like it was before. Haru hums to himself as he walks around the room, but the melody comes out broken and unsure of itself. He stops in the middle of the room and stands still. He feels something that he's never felt before.
"Hey Yuki," he says.
"Yeah?"
"Are there certain things humans do with some friends that they don't do with others?"
Yuki goes red, his face contorting into a painful and scary oblong expression. "You didn't... y-you know... y-you..."
"Hmm?" Haru cocks his head. "It's just that Coco was talking about something like that before and I was curious about it."
"Oh..." And Yuki's face goes back to normal, the eyes becoming soft and gray again. "I guess there are a few things, although I'm probably not the best person to ask."
"Gotcha," Haru winks and then takes Yuki's hands in his ("Hey, wait, what're you doing?") and leads them to his chest. He waits a while, closing his eyes, while Yuki calms down and lays his palms flat.
"Can you feel it?" Haru asks.
"Feel what?"
"My heart going zoom."
"I-I guess," his hand trembles. Haru lets go.
"It goes this way when I'm with you. Kate made me realize that. She said that we must be really good friends if it does that."
Yuki is still staring at his hand.
"So Yuki."
"Yeah?"
"Can this be the sort of thing that only we do together?"
Yuki looks at him. "Haru, are you sure you didn't..."
But he never finishes, as Haru plants his palm on Yuki's chest. He feels a heart beating fast, like a ball bouncing from wall to wall. It feels familiar and gentle and warm.
"Yes, you feel it too. Yuki's heart is going zoom just like mine."
"Haru..." Yuki grasps Haru's wrist. He isn't looking at him so he can't read his expression.
Instead, Haru takes his hand away places the other one on Yuki's hand. "Promise this will be the thing that only we do together."
Defeated at last, Yuki sighs and nods. "Yeah. It'll just be our thing." Haru rewards him with a smile. It's not rare for him to smile, but humans seem to put a lot of weight on actions of the lips.
"But you know, Yuki, I think the sort of things that the three of us do together are special too." And he runs to get the fishing equipment prepared, Yuki's hand still in his.
A/N: Yay. A Tsuritama category, finally.