A/N: I had no idea I forgot to post a chapter on here! So now here's two new chapters as a Christmas/New Years gift.
"Have you told anyone about this?" Sawamura said as they're both dismounting from their brooms.
Miyuki unfastened his riding gloves. "You're going to have to be more specific."
He gestured between the two of them. "This. What the two of us are doing." He cringed after he said that, because it made it sound like they were doing something they weren't.
"If by this you mean sneaking out at night to play Quidditch with a Gryffindor, then no, I haven't. This might be a surprise to you, but I like having friends and not getting jumped every other day."
"It's not like it's some big secret. We're not doing anything wrong."
Miyuki scoffed. "My friends would kill me if they found out I was meeting up with you like this." He leaned back on the bleachers. "So would your friends."
"No, they wouldn't. If I explained it to them, they'd get that this isn't a big deal." Sawamura insisted.
"Oh? That's why you've told them already?"
Sawamura's silence was answer enough. "Seems like you're talking to yourself, not me." Miyuki said.
Miyuki finished packing away all his stuff first and headed to the exit. "Tell whoever you want, that's none of my business. But if I hear any rumors about this going around, you'll never see me here again."
His words went through Sawamura's mind as he sat in class the next day. Who does that bastard think he is? I don't come there for him! He resolved to tell Haruichi and Furuya after class. There was no reason to keep this a secret from his friends. They wouldn't tell anyone if he asked them not to, and he hated keeping secrets. It'd be a weight off his chest.
Then he kept thinking about it. It wasn't that he didn't trust his friends, he did. It was that he knew what they were going to say. He could see the looks of confusion on their faces. He could hear Haruichi telling him, "Are you sure about this, Eijun-kun? It's weird for a Slytherin to agree to meet up with you so often. He might be using you." Furuya would nod his head and agree, probably repeating, "He's a Slytherin."
All that stuff had already gone through his head. Sawamura knew he had the reputation for being stupid, but he wasn't that stupid. He was wary of Miyuki at first, made sure to watch what he said about the team. But every time he hinted about his suspicions to Miyuki, Miyuki was scathing in his replies. The last time he asked, Miyuki said something like, "There's nothing for me to steal from a fifth-year rookie who gets the closest to a broom on game days when he's cleaning an upperclassman's. When I need a lesson on falling off my broom, I'll find you."
Sawamura knew he deserved every rude remark he got, just like he knew that Miyuki wasn't using him. He trusted Miyuki, because he was the only person who loved Quidditch as much as Sawamura did. Just like him, Sawamura knew that Miyuki believed that cheating took all the fun of Quidditch. If both sides didn't go head to head with their true strength and spirit, what was the point? He didn't want to hear his friends cut down Miyuki's character because he was Slytherin, especially when Sawamura couldn't defend him without giving them the wrong idea about their relationship.
That was another thing. He was worried that as soon as he told his friends about him and Miyuki, they'd ruin it and make it something that it's not. Deep down, this was a big fear of his.
Haruichi poked him. "Eijun-kun, the bell rung."
He jumps and looks at everyone packing up around him. "Oh, thanks."
Haruichi put on his messenger bag. "Are you okay? You were spaced out all class."
Sawamura opened his mouth, then closed it. "I'm fine. I couldn't fall asleep at all last night, that's all."
They walked out together. "I can help with that! I learned how to make a sleeping draught in Potions."
Sawamura shook his head. "Sleeping potions scare me. I'm afraid I won't wake up again."
Furuya was waiting for them at the door, and the three of them walked to their next class together. He pretended not to notice, acted like he wasn't looking for anything. Still, in his head, he counted down 3, 2, 1.
Miyuki appeared, going down the hallway in the opposite direction. Their eyes met, then darted away. They passed by each other without brushing or acknowledging each other. Sawamura only smiled once Miyuki was behind him. He wondered if Miyuki smiled too.
This had been happening every day. Before he started seeing Miyuki regularly, he never realized that they passed each other on the way to class. He was so surprised the first time he noticed it, Miyuki laughed at him later that night. But now that he had, he couldn't stop noticing it.
It was Sawamura's favorite part of the day.
He whistled to himself and asked Furuya what today's lunch was.
"Hey, I might not be here for a couple of days." Miyuki said.
It took Sawamura a second to process his words. They were both laying back on the bench, breathing heavy after a good race. They had been sitting in comfortable silence up until that point, which was why Miyuki's words didn't register at first.
"Okay." Miyuki never told him when he'd show up to the arena or not. Sawamura never asked, he assumed that he'd be told that it was none of his business.
Miyuki continued without Sawamura asking any questions. "Mei snuck into my bed last night and saw I wasn't there. He fell asleep before I got back, but he wouldn't let it go when he woke up."
Sawamura's stomach dropped at the mention of Narumiya's name. "So what are you going to do?"
Miyuki smirked, and it made him feel even sicker. "I'll distract him."
Miyuki stood up. "Enough about me. Let's practice one more move before I go to bed."
He couldn't concentrate much though, so it wasn't long before they both decided to head to bed.
It was Miyuki's fault that he couldn't focus. All that went through his head was an endless loop of the words "Mei snuck into my bed" and "I'll distract him". He forgot that Miyuki was in a relationship with someone. He seemed so single-mindedly focused on Quidditch, Sawamura didn't expect him to have time for anything else. Obviously, he was wrong. Miyuki had plenty of time for a relationship and then some. He talked about Narumiya sneaking into his bed like it was normal. Had he and Narumiya…? They probably had. Who cares?
Really, the surprising thing was that Miyuki would date a guy like Narumiya at all. Narumiya was brash and arrogant, manipulative and rude. Kuramochi called him a "true Slytherin", the worst insult in Kuramochi's mind. He was the complete opposite of Sawamura.
And why shouldn't he be? Why would Miyuki date anyone like Sawamura?
"Sawamura?"
They were polar opposites too. Maybe Narumiya was exactly Miyuki's type. Whatever, it's not like whoever Miyuki dates matters to him. Why should he care?
"Yo, Sawamura!"
Sawamura's head snapped up. It was the next day. He was at lunch now, and all his friends were staring at him.
"You okay? I called your name like ten times." Kanemaru said.
"Are you still having trouble sleeping?" Haruichi asked. "Maybe you should go see the nurse."
Sawamura shook his head. "I'm fine. Sorry for zoning out so much."
His friends weren't convinced. "Sawamura-kun, look at me." Haruno said.
Reluctantly, Sawamura turned to meet Haruno's eyes. They were sitting next to each other, so he felt the intensity of her gaze up close. He tried his hardest not to look away, despite his discomfort growing.
Finally, she turned back to the group and smiled. "Okay, I got it! I know what's wrong, and no sleeping draught will be able to cure it." She paused for dramatic effect.
"Well? Tell us." Kanemaru urged.
Haruno smiled wider. "Sawamura-kun is in love!"
The reactions to this statement were about as expected.
"What?"
"What?"
"What?"
"With who? His Quidditch broom?"
"Kanemaru, that's mean."
"What?" Sawamura said the loudest. "I'm not in love! I think I'd know if I was in love!"
"No, you probably wouldn't." Toujou said, which was like a knife in the back. "But we would. After all, you're horrible at keeping secrets."
Everyone nodded to themselves in agreement. Sawamura had to hold himself back from saying Then how come none of you know that I've sneaking out of the dorms every night? It would only prove their point.
"Well, I'm not." he snapped. "What would that have to do with not being able to fall asleep anyway?"
"You can't stop thinking about this special person, whoever they are." Haruno narrated. "The thought of them makes your heart beat so fast that it keeps you up. Their words, their actions, their looks. Before you know it, it's another sleepless night due to the curse known as love!" She play-fainted, getting a big laugh out of the whole table.
Haruno righted herself. "I know what I'm talking about. I'm sure that your crush feels the same way about you." she said to him.
"They don't exist." Sawamura grumbled. The bell rings, and for the first time he was thankful for it.
It was ridiculous. He racked his brain for anyone he could possibly be in love in with and came up with no one, because it was that ridiculous. Quidditch was the love of his life, there was no space for anything else. Especially not for a relationship of all things! He wasn't in love, he was tired. His friends didn't know that he spent most of his nights practicing instead of sleeping, so he couldn't blame them for coming to the wrong conclusion.
At the end of class, he and Haruichi met up with Furuya who was dozing outside the door of their classroom and walked down the hallway.
"I still think you should see the nurse if you're having trouble sleeping." Haruichi said.
"I said I'm fine." Sawamura repeated.
"If it's a love problem…" Haruichi blushed. "You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to."
Haruichi's eyes darted to Furuya. Furuya looked a little pink too, but he did his best pretend like he wasn't paying attention to the conversation at all.
Sawamura took no notice of either of his friends. "There is no love problem because I'm not in love! How many times to I have to say it?"
He was about to say something else when he looked ahead and the words left his throat. All the noise canceled out around him, and his vision narrowed down to one thing.
Miyuki.
He'd forgotten that this was the part of the day where he passed Miyuki in the hallway. Miyuki hadn't noticed him yet either, because he reading a book instead of watching where he was going. His tie was loosened and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone, so Sawamura could clearly see the slope of his neck, down to his collarbone.
The fog was starting to clear in Sawamura's head.
Because Miyuki was too busy concentrating on his book and Sawamura was too busy concentrating on him, it was inevitable that they would bump into each other.
The collision made Miyuki drop his book. Sawamura crouched down to pick it up at the same time Miyuki did.
"Sorry," he mumbled, staring at Miyuki.
Miyuki looked like he was going to say something rude, until he saw that it was Sawamura he had bumped into. "Oh." he simply said.
Sawamura handed him his book. "You shouldn't be reading in the hallway."
Miyuki grinned, and Sawamura's heartbeat picked up. "Is that how you talk to an upperclassman?"
He would've said something worse back, but Haruichi cut in. "Sorry, senpai! He wasn't looking where he was going."
For those brief seconds, Sawamura felt like they were in their own little bubble. Now, it was broken. All Haruichi saw was a Slytherin and an upperclassman that he should fear, and Sawamura should've felt the same way. But he wasn't a Slytherin or an upperclassman. He was Miyuki.
They both stood up. "I'll forget it for now. Next time, watch where you're going." Miyuki said, playing his part.
"He's very sorry." Haruichi repeated.
He wanted to call Miyuki out. Tell him that he was the one who bumped into Sawamura and he knew it. And to call him an asshole once or twice. But he couldn't because they shouldn't know each other, and that hurt.
When Haruichi turned away, Miyuki smiled and mouthed the word "Bye." He kept walking forward, and Sawamura did the same.
"Be careful next time, Eijun-kun. The last thing we need is to get into a fight with a Slytherin." Haruichi said.
Sawamura could hardly pay attention to him. His words were drowned Sawamura's constant thoughts of no, no, no.
As Sawamura trucked over to the arena, he was wound up tighter than a string. He wasn't sure whether Miyuki would be there or not and it had him on edge.
There's no way. He was out of his mind before, but now he was able to think more clearly. There was no way that he could have feelings for Miyuki. Miyuki, of all people! Yes, he'd been thinking about Miyuki a lot, especially when he got back to his room at night after they practiced. Yes, he thought Miyuki was beautiful. Sawamura wouldn't deny that, he had ever since he first met Miyuki. But that didn't mean Sawamura had feelings for him!
Miyuki was still mean and awful and brutal to practice with, because he never let you relax for a second. Though, his slavedriver methods made Sawamura last longer during practice. Coach had complimented on his stamina the other day too. Actually, it was kinda nice of Miyuki to train him as hard as he did, considering they were supposed to be rivals (Miyuki would laugh at the thought).
A memory popped up in Sawamura's head. After working and working and mostly failing he had finally landed this really tricky move on his broom, something that could be a real gamechanger in catching the Snitch. As soon as he landed, he ran up and hugged Miyuki, jumping up and in down in excitement.
"I did it, Miyuki! Did you see? I did it!" Sawamura cheered.
Miyuki ruffled his hair. "Good job. I knew you could do it."
The warmth of his hand on Sawamura's head and the way he smiled at him stayed with Sawamura as he went to bed. Miyuki's approval made him more happy than having Coach's. He wanted to impressed Miyuki, he cared a lot about what Miyuki thought…
Sawamura shook his head. This wasn't helping.
He steeled himself as he stood in front of the entrance. It'll be okay. I'll see his smug, arrogant face and remember that I'm only using him to get better at Quidditch. He walked into the arena with his head held high.
Miyuki wasn't there.
It's not like he didn't expect Miyuki not to be there. What he didn't expect was the crushing disappointment that washed over him. He tried to ignore it, but the disappointment sat at the bottom of his stomach like a rock. He felt a sharp pang as walked into the empty field.
What the hell? I don't come here for him. he told himself. Every time he said that, he meant it. When did he stop meaning it?
He flew on his broom for a half hour and then left. Like Masuko told him once, you can't play with a heavy heart.
Sawamura avoided going back to the field for the rest of the week. He needed some time to get his head back in the game.
There were some things he understood without anyone needing to tell him. He knew that he couldn't have feelings for Miyuki even if he wanted to (to be honest, he didn't know what he wanted). His teammates would never forgive him. Really, the best thing to do was to stop these late night meetings now and cut off these late night meetings completely.
But he couldn't do that. Whatever else, he and Miyuki were friends. It ate him up inside to avoid Miyuki like this. He had been taking extra time at the end of class just to avoid passing him in the hallway. He was tired of all this weirdness, and wanted things to get back to normal. And normal included flying with Miyuki at night, whether he wanted it to or not.
So on a night when it was impossible for him to fall asleep, Sawamura headed over to the Quidditch Field. He'd be stupid to stop practicing when Coach had finally started paying attention to him.
He entered with his mind on the stretches he'd have to do when his breath caught in his throat. There was someone flying in the distance.
"Miyuki?" he said softly. His voice must've carried through the empty air, because Miyuki stopped and flew right to where he was standing.
"Look who's here!" Miyuki said, hovering on his broom. "You've been slacking off while I've been away."
Sawamura stared at him for a second before saying, "I have not!"
Sawamura felt unbalanced, like he hadn't found his footing yet. It was like seeing a ghost in the flesh. He had been prepared to never see Miyuki again, and yet here he was. Same smug smile, same sharp eyes. Sawamura had the sudden thought that he missed Miyuki, and he quickly shoved it down.
"I was here yesterday. You weren't." Miyuki dismounted from his broom. "I hope you haven't gotten lazy without me to keep you in line."
Same infuriating personality. "I don't need you to 'keep me in line'! I practiced just fine without you!"
Miyuki held his gaze with a serious expression. His mouth quivered, and it wasn't long before he broke down into laughter.
He ruffled Sawamura's hair. "Ease up, Sawamura! I'm just messing with you."
When Miyuki turned his back, Sawamura touched the place where Miyuki's hand had just been. This isn't love, he thought.
Miyuki got back on his broom. "Now, let's see how well you practiced without me."
Sawamura mounted his broom. "I'll race you."
Miyuki's eyes gleamed. "You're on."
They raced up and down the arena, cheering and laughing. Soon they weren't even racing anymore, just flying as fast as they could together. Sawamura felt alive for the time in weeks, the way Quidditch was supposed to feel. This isn't love, he thought again, harder.
They took a break, resting on the bleachers. Sawamura laid down with his face turned up to the sky, while Miyuki was sitting down retying his laces.
"It's good to be back," Miyuki said. "I missed this."
Sawamura's heartbeat sped up, because instead of hearing "I missed this" he heard "I missed you". He shut his eyes tight.
This isn't love. This isn't love.
"Sawamura?"
His eyes snapped open. "What?"
"You okay?"
Sawamura swallowed and forced himself to nod. "I'm fine."
He hoped this wasn't love.