There are pros and cons to Sawamura and Miyuki's relationship for Furuya.
Pro: Sawamura isn't shouting in his ear all the time now. Miyuki has taken his spot now that he follows Miyuki around a lot more.
Con: Miyuki practices with Sawamura more than he does with him now. Miyuki swears up and down that's not true, but it doesn't help when, in middle of denying that he plays favorites, he cuts himself off to look at Sawamura making a fool out of himself and smile. Miyuki immediately forgets what they were talking about and walks over to him, much to Furuya's chagrin. What those two do together have nothing to do with him, as long as it doesn't affect his Quidditch performance. Furuya will become the primary Seeker, no matter what.
Pro: Now that Sawamura spends all his time with Miyuki, Haruichi and Furuya spend most their time together, alone.
He doesn't know when that became a pro.
It'll always starts the same way. The three of them will be doing something simple, like walking down the hallway, and then they pass Miyuki. Miyuki will bump into Sawamura and Sawamura will stop to say something to him. Haruichi and him have learned to keep walking when this happens (it's never just a couple of words with Sawamura) and before they know it they're alone again.
At first, it was awkward. Sawamura talked enough for the both of them, they weren't used to filling up the silence. Then they got used to each other and the words came easier. When it was just them, Haruichi was less soft-spoken and more open. Even him who never had much say found himself exploding with things to talk about. He's only like this with Haruichi and he doesn't know why.
It wouldn't be a problem (it's not a problem, not really) except that now it's not about talking. When he's with Haruichi he feels weirder. He can't look him in the eye sometimes and finds himself thinking strange thoughts, like if Haruichi's hands are as soft as they look and what it'd feel like to hold them.
"Furuya-kun, if you're not going to pay attention I'm not going to help you with your homework anymore." Haruichi pokes him with his pencil.
Furuya sits up quickly, not realizing that he was dozing off. "Sorry. What subject are we on now?"
Haruichi sighs. "We're on Herbology now. This worksheet isn't that hard, we just have to separate the plants into classes and explain each of their functions."
"That sounds easy to you?"
Haruichi laughs. "Okay, that might be a little difficult for you. But I'm here if you need help."
Furuya nods and quietly gets to work. He notices that Haruichi seems to be flying through his homework while he can't even remember what wormwood is used for.
"You're really good at Herbology." Furuya comments.
"I'm good at most subjects." He likes the way Haruichi says things. Not arrogantly or spitefully, factually. "But out of all of them, Herbology is my favorite."
"Why?"
He shrugs. "I don't know. I think it's cool how these simple plants can do so much. You can use them to heal, to attack, to play a trick on someone…"
"You sound like Sawamura." They've been going to this school for five years, but every time they learn a new spell Sawamura acts like a first-year again. Furuya has come to the conclusion that the Muggle world must be a terrifying place.
Haruichi laughs and it's a nice, pleasing sound. "I don't know how to explain it, I just think it's interesting. I wouldn't mind being a Herbology professor when I grow up."
"Really?" He tries to imagine it, Haruichi wearing teacher robes and carefully directing his students. It actually fits him pretty well.
"Yeah. I mean, I still don't know what I want to do when I graduate but I think it'd be nice to be a teacher. What do you want to do when you get out of school?"
Furuya doesn't even hesitate. "Quidditch."
Haruichi laughs again, and this time Furuya smiles with him. "I don't know why I even asked."
They started working in comfortable silence when Furuya hears himself say, "You'd make a good teacher, Haruichi."
He looks up to see Haruichi's cheeks burning. "Thank you. And you too! I've always thought you'd go pro out of all of us."
Furuya's cheeks warm, and they don't speak again.
Furuya doesn't want to talk to anyone about what he's feeling, but ignoring it is only making it worse. He thinks that maybe if he could put a name whatever this thing is with Haruichi, then maybe he'd wouldn't feel so confused all the time. However, excluding Haruichi (because he obviously can't talk to Haruichi about Haruichi) he only has one other friend, as much as he hates to call him that.
"Sawamura," he says calmly, to draw as little attention as possible.
The two of them are at the end of the table, eating their lunch. Haruichi is in the library studying for the Transfiguration quiz next period, so there's no better chance than this.
"What?" Sawamura barely even pauses in stuffing his face with food.
He doesn't beat around the bush. "How did you know you liked Miyuki-senpai?"
Sawamura's fork clatters loudly against his plate as he drops it and he starts coughing, choking on his food. Furuya can feel everyone's eyes on them and closes his eyes in frustration.
"Why do you wanna know that?" Sawamura says after a big gulp of water.
"Keep your voice down."
"Answer my question. Why do you wanna that?" Before Furuya can respond he jumps in, "Wait, don't tell me! You're trying to seduce Miyuki away from me for more practice time, aren't you?"
For a second, Furuya can't comprehend the words coming out Sawamura mouth. They're so nonsensical and stupid that he forgets to respond.
"So I'm right!" Sawamura points a finger in his face. "Well, Miyuki likes me better so don't even try it!"
Miyuki, who happens to be walking by, says, "I wouldn't be so sure."
"Bastard!" Sawamura calls after him.
"Sawamura, please. Just tell me." Furuya pleads.
He must've done something right, because Sawamura's face changes. "I don't know. I mean I honestly couldn't stand him at first, and then one day I looked at him." He scrunches his eyebrows. "I don't know to explain it, I just realized it. Then it was all I could think about."
It doesn't exactly make sense to him, but somehow Furuya can understand what he's saying. "Hm."
Sawamura fidgets, clearly embarrassed. "Is there a reason you're asking me this? We never talk about this stuff."
"Yes."
"Are you going to tell me?"
"No."
He decides that listening to Sawamura's annoying outcries is a good enough payment for his help.
He looks at Haruichi, immersed in a book about mandrakes, and he realizes.
"Aniki, can I talk to you?"
Ryousuke and his friends pause where they were walking down the hallway. "Sure, go ahead."
"Um, alone." Haruichi has the urge to walk away and try to find Ryousuke when he's alone, but there's almost always someone hanging around his brother(he knows, he's been trying for weeks).
Ryousuke stares at him silently for a moment, then says, "Go on without me. I'll catch up later."
Once it's the two of them, they start walking down the hallway again. "I'm listening."
"Um, well." Now that he's finally able to talk to his brother he doesn't know what to say. "It's nothing serious! I just—I wanted to know—"
"Don't waste my time, Haruichi."
In one breath he says, "How do you know if someone likes you?"
When Ryousuke says nothing he adds, "In the romantic way, I mean."
He jumps when Ryousuke stops and laughs. "Is that all you wanted to ask me? Dating advice?"
Haruichi knew he'd have to take a bit of ridicule to get the help he wanted, so he only nods.
"I'm surprised. You always seemed more interested in your books than dating." Ryousuke nudges him. "So? Who is it?"
Haruichi shakes his head furiously. "I'm not telling you! I mean, there's no one! This is a hypothetical situation."
"Right. And what if I say I won't help you unless you tell me?"
"Aniki!"
"Fine, I'll let you off hook this time." Ryousuke smirks. "I'll figure it out soon enough."
Haruichi waits in anticipation to hear his brother's wise words. He knows Ryousuke could be a little blunt and harsh sometimes, but his advice always makes sense.
"If the person is always looking at you, finding excuses to be near you, or blushing around you, that usually means they like you." Ryousuke says after much thought.
Haruichi tries to remember any time where Furuya might've been staring at him or finding excuses to be near him, but he comes up blank. They end up near each other whether they want to or not, and he can't even think about what Furuya would look like blushing.
His crestfallen expression must show because Ryousuke follows up with, "Don't take my word for it, though. I'm basing my advice off the way the person I like acts around me. It's different for everyone."
The words make Haruichi forget his disappointment for a minute. "Wait, what? You have a crush on someone, Aniki?"
"Why is that so surprising? I'm not a robot." he says wryly.
"You've never mentioned anything." Now that Haruichi thought about it, his brother didn't date much either.
"You're thinking about how I don't date much, right?" Ryousuke guesses, laughing at the bewildered look on Haruichi's face. "Well, I've liked this person for a while."
He knows that Ryousuke won't tell him who it is out of spite, so he asks, "If you know that your crush likes you, then why aren't you dating them?"
Ryousuke continues smiling, but the smile changes into something unreadable. "Maybe this is the most valuable advice I can give, Haruichi." He stands in front of him and puts a hand on Haruichi's shoulder. "The one who falls first always loses."
"Huh? I don't understand."
Before Ryousuke could speak any further, they heard someone calling his brother's name. They both turned around to see Kuramochi running up to them.
"Ryou-san, are you busy?" he asks once he catches up to them.
"No, I'm not." When Haruichi protests he says, "I've given you enough advice. What happens now is up to you."
Kuramochi's eyes dart between the two of them. "Sorry for interrupting."
Ryousuke turns completely away from him. "It's alright, we're done anyway. What do you need?"
"The field's open, so I thought we could practice Bludger Backbeats before the game on Saturday."
"Youichi, you're better at those than I am. You don't need anymore practice."
Strangely enough, Kuramochi blushes. "You're the one who said you can 'never have enough practice', something like that."
"Fine, I'll practice with you, but only for a little bit. It's almost dinner." They start walking away, in their own little world.
Haruichi sighs and goes back to his room to ponder his brother's words.
Furuya and him are in the library studying. Haruichi is immersed in a book about mandrakes, but occasionally he'll glance at Furuya over the top of the book. He swears he feels Furuya staring at him, and his heart speeds up at the thought. At the same time, it's probably wishful thinking.
He still doesn't understand what his brother meant, but he decides hold off on doing anything about his feelings. He'd hate it if things got weird with Furuya just when they were starting to become close friends.
Maybe with time, things would change.