I had to. Episode 9 broke me. This should be renamed as Free!: Eternal Cryfest or something.
They're staring at each other. Simply staring, as both are at a complete loss of words. Sousuke kind of hates the whole situation; sitting on the floor and staring at Makoto's green eyes while the other boy is standing, but the pain flaming in his shoulder doesn't actually let him think about it.
"Yamazaki-kun...?" Makoto's hand rises up but is left half-way, as if he wants to reach for the other boy but doesn't know what's going to happen if he does so. Sousuke finally snaps out of it and averts his teal gaze, turning his head to the right.
"Go away. What the hell are you even doing here? Just leave me alone", he mutters as he tries to stand up using the wall as a support – get out get out get out, his mind is screaming – , but his right arm isn't working the way it should and he's not going to remove his left hand from his shoulder. He makes it almost up, but then a new wave of pain hits his shoulder and he slides back down, squeezing his eyes shut and letting out a short hiss of pain.
Makoto hesitantly steps closer and crouches down, not caring about the shower that's soaking his clothes. Sousuke tries to back away because no one, absolutely no one was supposed to know and Nanase knows already and that's bad enough but now there's Tachibana in front of him with those green eyes just flowing with pure concern and he wants nothing more than to get away, but there's a wall, cold wall behind him and he's pretty sure he just accidentally pressed his shoulder against it.
"Don't give me that. You're injured and you need help. Does Rin know? No, of course he doesn't. Why haven't you told him? Are you going to swim like this? You should be in the hospital, Yamazaki-kun!" There's something oddly soothing in Makoto's voice, Sousuke notes. Something in it, be it the lack of pity or just the immeasurable amount of pure concern, almost makes him want to let the brunet help him. Almost.
"I said leave me alone." But Makoto is having none of that. He sighs and gets on his knees in front of Sousuke, refraining himself from touching the obviously inflamed shoulder.
"I'm not leaving you alone. You're hurt. You need help." Makoto is persistent and Sousuke doesn't like it. He's in pain and he just wants to be left alone, but there are kind eyes and gentle hands right in front of him and for a fraction of a second he considers reducing himself into a screaming, sobbing mess right there and then.
"I don't. Go away. Don't tell Rin. Please." It takes him a moment to realize that he's begging the other boy to leave but he doesn't care. Just fucking leave me alone!
Makoto stares at him for a while, bright green eyes still full of concern but now also tinted with disbelief. "Why are you doing this to yourself?"
Sousuke lets out a low growl and glares at Makoto. "Just fuck off, Tachibana. I don't need your help." But Makoto continues staring at him and now that's definitely pity in his eyes, and Sousuke can't, doesn't even want to take it anymore; the pain in his shoulder is gradually getting worse as minutes tick by, he's angry at everything, he's tired and he's just so fucking done.
"ARE YOU EVEN FUCKING LISTENING TO ME!? I'M TELLING YOU TO FUCK OFF! I DON'T NEED HELP!" The screech tears its way out of his throat and a lone tear spills on his cheek.
"And I'm telling you to start listening to your body! If you're not letting people help you, then at least do that much!" Makoto's voice isn't nearly as loud as Sousuke's, but the taller is still taken slightly aback; Makoto has never seemed like the type of person who would raise his voice for any other purpose than talking to someone who's a little farther away.
But he doesn't actually care. "Mind your own fucking business!" Sousuke's brows knit together as he squeezes his eyes shut and aims a kick to Makoto's chest.
Makoto finds himself lying on his back on the wet floor; thankfully, he didn't hit his head, but there's a dull throb in his chest where Sousuke's heel just hit him. He gets up and manages to block a clenched fist just before it hits his face.
As his left hand is blocked, Sousuke, without thinking, raises his right fist too.
His hand stops mid-way and then drops limply to his side as he tears his left hand from Makoto's grip and brings it to grip his shoulder with a howl of pain. He doubles over, his forehead nearly touching the cold, tiled floor, gasping for air and tears spilling on his cheeks.
So Makoto drapes his jacket over Sousuke's shoulders and gathers the boy into a tight embrace, as tight as he dares, as Sousuke grips Makoto's shirt, burying his head into the crook of the brunet's neck, and breaks down, his wails echoing in the empty shower room.
So yeah, what do you think? Reviews are always very appreciated :3