HaruGou: Drabbles

By Confused Panda Bear

Thirty-Nine

"Happy New Year"

Gou sipped at her non-alcoholic beverage, sulking.

It was New Year's Eve and the team had taken advantage of Haru's unsupervised and parent-less house to throw a huge party in commemoration of the passing year.

But in spite of the celebratory occasion, Rin would not allow her to drink because 'alcohol and teenage boys were a bad combination'.

She had complied without putting up too much of a fight because Gou had never understood the appeal of getting drunk in the first place. Furthermore, being the only sober one at the party meant that she was able to fully appreciate the alcohol's effects on her fellow teammates and friends.

It was…eye-opening, to say the very least.

Nagisa wasn't so bad; he was just an overly excited, amplified version of himself, though his cheerfulness was almost insufferable under the influence. He was the 'excitable drunk,' Gou had decided.

Makoto was unsurprisingly, the 'reliable drunk.'

"Hey guys, no throwing up in the sink!" he said – whilst throwing up in the sink.

Still, the older boy did a great job of making sure that no one broke anything of Haru's, and that everyone was having a good time.

His efforts were commendable, given that by ten o clock, he couldn't even walk in a straight line.

Rei was the 'philosophical drunk.'

He spent the entire evening coming out with deep and superfluous discussions like: "what if the whole world was 'beautiful'…then how do we know what is beautiful anymore?"

That was when the vodka shots came out because her brother had decided that enough was enough and that: "speedo glasses needed to lighten up a bit."

Rin was quite obviously, the 'reckless drunk.'

He stood on tabletops, announcing things like: "Hey guys! I bet I can jump off the roof and into that bush!" which had Gou fearing her brother would not make it to midnight without her supervision.

Rin had also brought along his roommate, Aiichiro Nitori, who Gou labelled the 'depressed drunk' because he spent most of the night sitting in the corner moping about "how senpai hadn't noticed him yet."

Haruka however, was the most surprising drunk of them all.

Because when Haru was drunk, he was actually sociable.

Gou never had him down as a big drinker – and he wasn't – until provoked by her older brother into taking part drinking games and everyone knew that Haru would never turn down a chance to compete with Rin.

They played several overly intense rounds of beer pong and drinking competitions, where Gou had been witness to Haru drowning six consecutive tequila shots against the clock, then lick salt and lemon off a girl's bare stomach.

After that, it wasn't long before their quiet vice-captain was ambling confidently through the crowds, full of friendly greetings and trays of drinks like the perfect host.

He laughed a lot more than Gou was used to.

He talked a lot more than Gou was used to.

He had even allowed himself into being coaxed onto the dance floor by frivolous girls from his class that he'd never given the time of day but were now happily invading his personal space as their heads strayed close and their bodies ground against him.

"Haruka-senpai is quite the party animal once you loosen him up a bit!" Hana had laughed, and Gou was more annoyed than she should have been.

"There you are!" Haru called out jubilantly, finally finding her alone in the kitchen. "I've been looking for you all night!"

Gou almost dropped the glass she was refilling; "H–Haruka-senpai?"

The boy sauntered over coolly, only tripping over maybe three or four times.

"It's almost midnight," he informed. "You should come back in and enjoy the party!"

He had stopped so close in front of her that he was trapping her between the kitchen counter and his tall, muscular body, that swayed with his intoxication.

"I–I will soon," Gou forced herself to reply. "You should go ahead and enjoy yourse–"

"–But I want to stay with you!"

Thrown off-guard, her gaze looked up at him searchingly.

Drunk or not, there was something fascinating about the way he looked at her then – like she was the only thing in the world worth looking at.

"You have really beautiful eyes," Haru's voice slurred. "They're like Rin's but prettier because they're not full of teenage angst and regret."

Gou's heart sung but she felt stupid, because what the hell was that supposed to mean?

"You're drunk, Haruka-senpai."

He giggled – giggled.

"You're sexy."

Gou was saved from a response by Makoto announcing: 'One minute 'til midnight, everyone!' from the other room.

She put a hand on Haru's chest to push him back towards the door. "We…should go–"

"–Shh…shh…" Haru clumsily placed a finger over her lips.

This stopped her in her tracks.

"W–what the–?"

Hands at her waist pulled her close, accompanied by slow, lazy movements of his fingers that toyed with the zipper of her dress.

His lips brushed along the shell of her ear.

"–Let's stay here. Let this happen."

Gou blanched, grabbing his wandering hands; "Haruka-senpai. You're drunk and you don't know what you're doing right now."

'10!'

With a disheartened sigh, Haru pulled away and leant his forehead onto hers in a gesture of defeat.

"I'm not acting like this just because I'm drunk, y'know," he mumbled.

Gou exhaled amusedly. "You're not?"

'9!'

"Of course not. I like you," he confessed (drunkenly). "And I want to do the thing with you."

She could feel his cheeks colouring from the heat emanating from them.

"The…thing?"

'8!'

"You know, that thing…"

'7!'

Maybe it's about time I slapped him, Gou thought.

"Haruka-senpai, you do realise that my bother is in the next room…"

'6!'

"No, no, not that thing…" though he grinned sheepishly. "Okay, maybe that thing too…but I actually meant the um, dating thing that everyone's doing…"

'5!'

"…So where do I apply?" Haru continued when she was unable to respond.

He had altogether stopped making sense to her, but for some reason, she found it increasingly endearing.

"Apply for what?"

"The boyfriend position."

'4!'

Gou shook her head with a laugh.

"You're really, really drunk Haruka-senpai," she still remained sceptical. "Will you even remember this tomorrow morning?"

'3!'

He shook his head, "probably not, and I'll have a terrible hangover too, so please be delicate with your rejection…"

'2!'

Gou smiled up at him, somehow content with his answer.

"Oh you don't have to worry about that…"

'1!'

She tilted her head and tiptoed, their lips meeting halfway for a sweet and gentle kiss.

'HAPPY NEW YEAR!'

"…because I like you too."