Author's Note: Written for thoughtsinanutshell's prompt on Tumblr: Sousuke being a proud boyfriend at Gou's university graduation. It's a bit short but well, I could hardly expand this into a fully-fledged fic, now could I?
I like the idea of a very introspectively romantic Sousuke. Not quite like Rin, more like a Haru-vibe.
I've crossed the deserts for miles, swam water for time; searching places to find, a piece of something to call mine.
"Pure Shores", All Saints
As he rose lithely to his feet, the only thing Sousuke could think was how beautiful she looked, radiant despite the ugly black robe she wore. Her bright red hair stuck out in the distance, making her shine like a beacon that he would always be drawn to. His hands fell together several times, clapping hard when her name was called out of the roster.
Matsuoka Gou
Of course she would graduate with honours. Gou was, admittedly, the more academically inclined of the Matsuoka siblings. Where Rin had inherited his father's affinity for sports and athletics, Gou was her mother's daughter through and through. The woman – his mother-in-law for all intents and purposes, he quickly corrected himself, stood on his left, tearing up with Rin's hand in hers. They were crying, for God's sake.
"Isn't she beautiful?" her mother said. "That's our girl, Sousuke-kun. Aren't you proud?"
He barely heard any of her speech, too deafened by the sounds of his own heart beating loudly in his ears as he slowly came to the realisation that this girl, no, this tiny woman – loud, impatient, demanding like every Matsuoka ever was – was his. Not like she was her mother's, who had carried her in her belly and had been the first thing her tiny, beautiful crimson eyes had seen. Not like she was Rin's baby sister, an extension of himself somehow, that he cared for despite his insistence that he did not.
No, she was his in the way that she had crawled inside the space between his ribs and called it home. In the way that she, who stood at the hardly impressive height of 5'4ft could bring him, a 6'1ft giant to his knees. She was more his than she had ever been anyone else's, because she was so many things to so many people: Rin's sister, Ms. Matsuoka's daughter, the Iwatobi Swim Club's former manager, Hazuki Nagisa's favourite playmate, but she was also Sousuke's reason to walk, and swim and breathe.
As she approached him, her robe billowing behind her and her hands carrying her brand new title, Sousuke hitched his chin up at her, one large hand patting her head affectionately. He let her have her moment with her family (Rin's presence had been a surprise and soon enough, both siblings were teary-eyed and speaking through muffled sobs whilst their mother took pictures and told anyone who would listen how proud she was of her little girl.
When she wrapped her long, thin fingers around his larger hand, Sousuke couldn't help but feel as if she were tugging directly at his heartstrings.
"It feels sort of anti-climactic, doesn't it?" she pondered, fingers toying idly with his. "All that work for an hour-long ceremony. Did you hear my speech?"
Sousuke hesitated before he spoke, deep-set teal eyes looking ahead of him as he lead her away from the throngs of graduates and proud friends and family members. Sticking his free hand deep inside his pocket, Sousuke shrugged, a ghost of a smile playing idly on his lips.
"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I think it feels cathartic."
