Too Much Effort
"If you were a girl, which one of us would you go out with?"
Haruka blinked as the question Nagisa had asked all of them one night so very long ago came back to him out of the blue. He blinked as the steam from the bath swirled around him, leaving his tiled surroundings in a murky haze. It had been four years since he and Makoto had graduated from Iwatobi High, six years since Nagisa had jokingly asked that question to the newly reformed Iwatobi Swimming Club. It had still been the four of them, plus Gou, then. Much had changed since then, but one thing stayed constant in Haruka's life.
There was a knock at the door, before it slid open to welcome Makoto into Haru's world of swirling haze and sea-green tile. It didn't escape Haru's notice that the green of Makoto's eyes were one of the only things unobscured by the steam…How odd.
Makoto did as he had for years, and pulled Haru out of the tub before pulling him into the kitchen to ensure neither of them starved. As Haru cooked, Makoto set out dishes, worked on the laundry a little bit, and went to put some music on, a spattering of conversation thrown back and forth between the boys, otherwise quiet. Comfortable.
After a dinner consisting of tuna and miso soup (something rather different for Haruka, and Makoto noticed), Haru asked the question poking his mind since the steamy haze had produced it ofr him.
"Makoto, if you were a girl, would you go out with me?"
His friend stopped washing the dishes and turned to look at Haru as he sprawled on the couch in their shared apartment. Haruka noticed that his eyes were still clearly observed from where he lay on the other side of the room…How odd. And were his cheeks pink?
"Aren't we already?" Haru blinked at Makoto's response, but upon further thought, observed it to be not too far from the truth. He expected Makoto to laugh at his belated observation and statement thereof, but Makoto continued to surprise him. "Would you rather go out with someone else?"
Haruka thought about it, wondered if he would ever be this comfortable with another person, would know another's mind as well as he knew Makoto's, would be understood half as well by anyone else…No. Probably not.
"Too much effort."
Just a little oneshot for one of my new favorite fandoms/anime, Free!
As always, I am a poor fanfiction writer on the internet, and have no claim to fame otherwise. I Do Not Own Anything. I am not KyoAni. That is all. :)
Anyway, this was fun to write!
Let me know what any of you think!
Emilinia-sama