Um, I didn't expect people to like this that much? This is literally word vomit yo. Thanks, hah.
I don't own Free!. It'd be even gayer than it is already if I did.
Haru sighed as he sat down in his seat at the back of the classroom next to the window, Makoto slipping into the one beside him. It was Monday and Haru was tired and in a bad mood, which even his traditional bath couldn't entirely mend. He had wanted to stay there in his little watery cocoon indefinitely, and would have had Makoto not been there to get him out. As he had cooked his mackerel with Makoto fretting like usual behind him, he had absentmindedly wondered what his attendance record would look like if Makoto weren't there every morning like clockwork to get him to school. He wasn't quite sure why Makoto had started and kept up the ritual of coming to get him, considering Haru always made him late and he paced anxiously the whole time, but it had been routine for so long that Haru didn't question it.
He sighed again, watching his classmates filtering in around the classroom, chatting and laughing. Their excited, high pitched voices grated into his ears, making him want to wrap his arms around his head and flop on top of his desk. It's too early for this.
A small chuckle came from his right and he turned his head to see Makoto looking at him. He smiled once Haru met his gaze and changed his focus to their classmates. "They're kind of loud, aren't they?" he said, exhaling and looking back to Haru with his psychic green eyes. Haru huffed and looked forward, knowing that Makoto knew his answer without having to verbally respond.
Makoto let out another light chuckle and began pulling out his notebooks and textbooks from within his backpack, setting them out on his desk. Haru surreptitiously flicked his gaze back to him, watching Makoto's hands deftly move out of the corner of his eye. As Makoto pulled out his pencils and set them out orderly above his notebook, Haru followed the movement and flexions of the bones and tendons beneath the softly tanned skin of his hands. Without thinking about it, he got sucked into blatantly staring at Makoto's hands and wrists, where they were abruptly cut off by the sleeve of his uniform. A little voice in the back of his head observed that it was weird to be so obviously focused on his best friend's hands, but he couldn't tear his eyes away. For some reason, as he continued to look at them, an inexplicable heat rushed to his face. He blinked and frowned in confusion. Maybe it was embarrassment that he was so oddly captivated by Makoto's hands.
His embarrassment multiplied with a jolt as Makoto stopped his work and noticed Haru's attention on him. Makoto turned his face to him, his brows furrowed slightly and his confused emeralds asking Is everything okay? Haru inhaled sharply and quickly turned his face away, letting his ebony bangs fall to veil his eyes and, he hoped, the tint in his cheeks. Why was he so flustered? Makoto was the one person he never had to worry about feeling awkward or uncomfortable with, and yet he was like soggy mush this morning. He felt ridiculous.
Hoping to put the moment behind him, Haru bent over and unzipped his backpack, pulling out his own books and setting them on the desk, avoiding glancing in Makoto's direction for fear that his face would flame up again. He got the buzzing feeling that Makoto was watching him, and kept his head bent over his desk so his expression was unreadable. After a couple of moments of taking deep breaths, he felt himself calming and returning to normal. What was that?
As he set out his pencils, he heard the door to the classroom snap open and a pair of feet rush in, the sound of them appearing to stop on the other side of Makoto, but Haru kept his head down to his desk. All of a sudden, Makoto let out a strangled yelp beside him and Haru whipped his head around just in time to see Makoto tipping dangerously towards the left in his chair before he collided with him. Eyes widening in shock and confusion, Haru too began to fall along with the momentum from Makoto's body, the two of them tilting in what felt like slow motion. With a loud crash, Haru's chair completely toppled over and Haru hit the ground beside his desk hard, Makoto clumsily tumbling on top of him with a high pitched "oof!"
Back stinging, Haru's wind was knocked out of him from the impact of Makoto's heavier body, his lungs stunted with being accidentally pinned between the hard floor and Makoto's torso. Panicking, Makoto immediately lifted himself off of Haru, pulling up enough to set his hands on either side of Haru's ribcage. He looked at Haru with wide, horrified eyes, his eyebrows inching up his forehead anxiously.
"Haru!" he gasped, his jade eyes flashing with alarm. "Are you alright?"
Haru blinked, frozen with his head at an awkward angle against the wall. He attempted to give a short nod. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine," he muttered, hating the catch in voice. Makoto exhaled in response, looking only a little less intensely concerned.
There was an awkward pause as neither Haru nor Makoto made any attempt to move. Makoto kept staring at Haru with his warm eyes, and Haru began to feel the inadvertent flush return to his face, but this time there was no way for him to hide it. Mortified, his breath caught in his chest, the room now quiet enough for him to hear the equally short breaths from Makoto. The obnoxious chatter from his classmates had dissipated, making him acutely aware that everyone was staring at him and Makoto, and he suddenly longed for the excited bustle that kept him in anonymity.
Makoto's eyes widened in embarrassment as he realized that he had lingered in the awkward position for a bit too long. "Oh, s-sorry!" he stammered, immediately rolling off of Haru and scampering up to standing. He offered a hand back down to Haru, who took it and let Makoto pull him up. As his now aching spine straightened up, he noticed that Makoto was avoiding his gaze, a blush on his face that had reached all the way to his ears. When Makoto released his hand, they both turned to see the culprit behind the incident.
"Nagisa?!"
The younger boy giggled impishly, reaching up a hand to rub the back of his blond curls. "Good morning, Haru-chan and Mako-chan!"
"What was that for?!" Makoto squeaked, his voice louder and an octave higher than usual.
Haru glared icily at the small breaststroke swimmer, filled with the sudden desire to strangle him.
Nagisa continued to laugh a little bit nervously with the look of utter death Haru was giving him. "Oh, I just wanted to tell you guys that Rei-chan and I won't be joining you for lunch today," he said, effectively skirting around Makoto's question. "We have a very, very important project we need to work on."
"That doesn't explain why you pushed me!" Makoto squawked, his voice rising in desperation. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his forehead as he flapped his arms awkwardly. His ears were still a bright red.
"NAGISA-KUN!"
They all jumped at the loud bark from the doorway, turning to see a very irritated and exasperated Rei making his way towards them. He stopped with a huff beside Nagisa, placing his hands on his hips and looking down at the blond with a stern expression.
"Nagisa-kun, you're going to be late for class!" he chided, grabbing the smaller boy's arm before turning his gaze to Haru and Makoto. "I am awfully sorry about this, Haruka-senpai and Makoto-senpai!" He dipped his head apologetically and turned his focus back to Nagisa with a disapproving glare. He proceeded to drag him out of the classroom, Nagisa giving a wink in farewell to Haru and Makoto before he disappeared from view. They were left standing blankly in the middle of carnage fit for a tornado, the room now considerably quieter without their younger teammates.
A small titter filled the stagnant air as their classmates processed what they had just witnessed. After regaining his senses, Makoto bent over and picked up Haru's chair, placing it back on its legs, before picking up his own and quickly sitting down in it without looking at Haru. Haru apprehensively drew his chair to the desk, it scraping loudly against the floor, and sat down as well, looking down at the blank notebook page before him, his blood rushing like a waterfall in his ears. Luckily, their teacher entered and everyone filed to their seats, quieting after the morning's excitement.
Classes passed painfully slowly, as Haru's bad mood had increased by Nagisa's sudden intrusion and disturbance, and fellow students who had been present for the catastrophe kept glancing over at him and Makoto with bemused expressions. Throughout the classes they had together, he and Makoto carefully avoided eye contact, the morning's shame still fresh and raw in their minds. He figured that maybe it was a good thing that Nagisa wouldn't be eating lunch with them, because he wasn't entirely sure he could restrain himself from hurting the sneaky little weasel.
Eventually, they made it to lunch and headed up to their customary spot on the roof. They sat with their backs against the wall, eating from their bentos in silence. Neither of them minded silence and it wasn't unusual for them to be with each other without speaking, but the quietness had an unfamiliar thickness and oppressiveness that echoed the moment from earlier. As Haru dug through his rice and fish, he wondered what had happened to make things so awkward. It wasn't that they weren't used to Nagisa constantly annoying and embarrassing them, but it had never affected them this badly before. Haru shook his head and frowned. No, it wasn't odd that they were struck so hard, considering that what Nagisa had done this morning was so drastically worse than normal.
He sighed and lifted up his chopsticks to his mouth, taking a bite and swallowing, barely even tasting anything. Curious, he flicked a look to Makoto, who was entirely focused on his lunch with eyes that showed whirring thoughts much like Haru's. Haru felt like he should say something, but he had no idea what, so he instead turned back to his food and took another bite.
After another couple of moments, the door leading to the roof banged open and a small, familiar figure stepped onto the roof. Kou saw Haru and Makoto sitting there and waved, her long red ponytail bouncing and her maroon eyes lighting up as she bounded towards them.
"Hi!" she chirped, stopping before them with her hands clasped behind her back. "I figured you guys would be up here."
Makoto set down his bento and returned her warm smile. "What's up, Kou?" he asked, lifting his chin to look at her.
"Well," she began, rocking back on her heels. "I was actually wondering if you guys could help me with something."
"Of course!" Makoto answered brightly. "What do you need help with?"
"Oh, well, my friend gave me this bit of cake," she said, pulling one of her hands from behind her back and showing them a plastic container, "but I don't really want it, so I was wondering if you guys do?"
"I don't like cake," Haru replied flatly.
Makoto glanced over to him and gently nudged him with his knee as if to say Be nice. Haru turned away in defeat before Makoto looked back up at Kou. "Sure, we'll take it," he said, offering up a hand.
Kou let go of it once it was in Makoto's grip and clasped her hands behind her back again. "Thanks a lot!" She barely waited a moment before turning and heading back to the door, waving over her shoulder with an effervescent "See you later!" before exiting the roof.
Makoto set the container down next to him and waited until both he and Haru had finished eating their lunches before picking it back up and cracking the lid open. As he set it down on top of his folded leg, Haru caught a glimpse inside and realized that Kou's description of the cake had been severely lacking. It was not a 'bit' of cake, it was 'a' cake. And it was in the shape of a heart. With pink frosting.
Haru and Makoto stared at it in confusion for a couple seconds, the cake glaring right back at them with its sugary, tacky pastel. Makoto coughed awkwardly. "Well, um…" He lifted his hand to rub the back of his neck. "It'd be rude to let it go to waste," he pointed out, nervously raising his eyebrows as he turned his head to Haru. He smiled weakly. "It looks good!"
Haru lowered his brows in irritation. "I don't want any," he responded automatically.
"Eh, but it's too big for me to eat on my own!" Makoto piped, glancing at the gauzy pink heart apprehensively.
"So give the rest to Ren and Ran," Haru suggested grumpily.
"I can't just give them a decimated half of a cake!" Makoto protested, clutching the container in tense hands. "And it'll probably get all smushed if it's bouncing around in my backpack for the rest of the day!"
He looked at Haru with such a plaintive expression that Haru felt his resolve crumbling. When faced with those big green puppy eyes, he couldn't very well say no. He sighed. "Fine," he muttered.
Makoto immediately perked up. "Thanks, Haru-chan!" he said, flashing a grateful smile.
Haru cast his eyes away. "Stop with the -chan," he grumbled.
Makoto closed his eyes and let out a little "hm" of a chuckle, tilting his head to the side, before reopening his eyes and setting the container with the cake in between the two of them. There was a single spoon conveniently packed with the cake, which Makoto immediately picked up and handed to Haru, who took it between reluctant fingers. Makoto bit his lip and leaned forward to draw his backpack closer, rustling through its compartments, before sighing and pushing it away.
"Ah, I don't have another spoon," he told Haru, twisting his lip.
Haru looked down and lifted the spoon in his hand slightly. "I don't mind sharing," he said quietly.
Makoto raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Oh, okay!" he chimed. He scooted a little closer to Haru so that their shoulders brushed against each other. He gestured to the spoon in Haru's grasp. "You can have the first bite."
Haru sighed, dutifully leaning over and taking a spoonful out of the violently pink confection. As he chewed and swallowed, he had to admit that it wasn't that bad, considering how he didn't particularly enjoy sweets. He handed the spoon out to Makoto. "It's chocolate."
"Eh, it is?!" Makoto asked excitedly, taking the spoon and scooping out a piece. The moment he shoved it in his mouth, his eyes widened in delight. "Ah, it's really good!"
Haru couldn't help but want to laugh at seeing his best friend so ridiculously happy because of a Valentine's nightmare of a cake. The grouchy look that had been his default expression for the day softened as he gazed at Makoto's bright smile, his green eyes sparkling and the little dusting of freckles on his nose more visible in the early afternoon sun than usual. Haru's eyes flickered down to his mouth, noticing a pink smear of frosting above his lips. He sighed internally at Makoto's clumsiness, and without really thinking about it, he reached his hand forward and softly swiped it away.
Makoto froze, looking at Haru with wide eyes, completely caught off guard. Haru immediately dropped his hand, feeling a jolt of nerves in his stomach. For the third time that day, that stupid blush made another unwelcome reappearance and Haru quickly looked away in discomfort. "You had frosting on your face," he explained, his voice low and flat.
"O-Oh! I did?" Makoto drew up a hand to touch where the frosting had been. "Thanks, Haru."
Haru nodded mutely, making himself look back at Makoto. "It's no problem."
The ends of Makoto's lips twitched upwards and he exhaled sharply. After a pause, he glanced down at the spoon in his hand. "Oh! Here," he said, offering it to Haru.
Haru took it and scooped another bite of cake. When he turned back to Makoto as he gave him the spoon, he noticed that Makoto's ears were again a bright, crimson red.
Gou hadn't actually left after giving them the cake, and had been standing behind the door and eavesdropping, hoping to see some results from her first move. She had to cover a giggle as she heard them discussing the spoon, smothering inadvertent noises that came from her mouth with a hand. Feeling daring, she cracked the door open the slightest bit and put her eye right up in the gap. As they ate the cake together, she pulled out her phone, putting the lens of its camera in the gap. When Haru reached up to Makoto's face, she quickly snapped a picture, wanting to squeal in excitement. She stayed and watched them eat the whole cake, but nothing else picture worthy happened, so she shut the door and left before they went to leave the roof.
As she walked down the school's hallway, she quickly typed out a text and sent it with the picture of Haru and Makoto attached. She slipped the phone into the pocket of her blazer and lifted her head, a new bounce and jubilance in her step.
To: Hazuki Nagisa
ATTACHED: image
Just thought I'd share this :) Are you still sure that you'll win? Because I think I might have just pulled into the lead.
Within five minutes, she received a response.
From: Hazuki Nagisa
not bad, gou-kun :) don't get too confident though, winning a battle doesn't guarantee winning the war ;)) by the way, you can ask anyone in mako-chan and haru-chan's first class how the results of my move went ^-^
also are you taking pictures of them? that's super creepy! O_O
Gou smiled at her phone, relishing the feeling of competition. She knew that Nagisa wouldn't be easy to beat and she'd have to definitely step up her game to make sure she emerged victorious. Pocketing the phone, she continued to where her friends were eating lunch, her mind whirring with new schemes.
A/N:
To be honest, I wouldn't want to eat a pink heart shaped cake with my best friend either eheh.
Oh yeah, so Gou is referred to as Kou from Haru's POV since that's what he calls her in the show. Just in case you were thinking that I'm inconsistent hah.
By the way, I kind of have a thing for hands that borders on fetish so please forgive my gratuitous descriptions of hands that will no doubt be littered throughout this entire fic...
So school starts in a couple of days. -high pitched screaming- That means I can't spend as much time on gay fanfiction and instead I have to think about... THE FUTURE. -ominous music- I will continue with this fic, though, so fear not. It just may take longer for me to update.
You know, one day I will post something that doesn't have anything promotional in it, but IT IS NOT THIS DAY. (casual LOTR reference is casual) Y'all should check out my bae sexythroatbitchohyescats's recently updated Makoharu college AU fic because you will cringe and laugh just as much as I did. Funny, we're inverses- I'm trying (key word: trying) to write less crack and she's writing more. Also, our joint Makoharu/eventual Sourin fic The Flames of Heaven will probably be updated more regularly than this or sexythroatbitchohyescats's college AU fic since we have a lot of it already written, so if you like our stuff please read it. -finger pistols-
Hope you enjoyed reading this, as I enjoyed writing it while procrastinating thinking about things like my future... and my career... -sweats nervously- Ahem.
