XOXO (idolish7 oneshots)

Acquaintances

Haruka doesn't think Iori and Tamaki consider him a friend. With the help of Zool, he gathers the courage to ask them.

"How are your friends doing?" Ryo asks Haruka one evening in Ryo's apartment. "Not like I really care."

"F-Friends?" Haruka stammers, "They're not my friends!"

Haruka insists on the same thing everyday. They're definitely not my friends, he'd say. I hate them. But, it was hard to believe when Haruka wasn't at all convincing and all he ever talked about was them.

"Then, why do you sit with them during lunch?" Touma probes, finger on his chin.

"They give you a bento box every time," Minami says, adding fuel to the fire that was Haruka's temper.

"Doesn't the blue-haired tall one have a nickname for you?" Torao asks, less of a question and more of a statement.

"They're just acquaintances," Haruka corrects, sitting on Ryo's living room couch alongside the other three members of Zool. "Not friends, there's a difference. Plus, I don't have anyone else to sit with. And they insist on giving me lunch! It's not like I want it."

"Sure," Torao scoffs, sipping something from a wine glass. "Maybe you're just too afraid to admit it."

"Afraid? What is there to be afraid of?" Haruka pouts, sick of having this conversation.

"Maybe you're afraid because you think they don't consider you a friend," Touma chips in, and Haruka ponders it for a moment. A moment that must have taken a while because Touma started up again. "You play video games with them, too, Haru. Only friends do that."

"But..." Haruka stares down at the floor. "But, it's not like they've ever told me directly."

"Then, why don't you ask?" Minami suggests.

"Why would I do that?" Haruka argues, narrowing his eyes in disgust. "I would never do that!"

But, the following day, he was doing exactly that.

"Hey..." Haruka starts that afternoon during their lunch break. The rooftop is empty aside from the three of them sitting on the ground, bento boxes on the floor in front of them. "Can I ask you guys a question?"

Nervous, he plays with his food, unlike Tamaki who was happily chewing away, too focused on eating to have heard the question. Iori turns to face Haruka, who was sitting in between the two so-called 'acquaintances'.

"What is it?" Iori asks. "If it's about the lunch, my brother insists I give it to you. If the bunny shape isn't to your liking, I can ask him to change it to an animal of your preference. I think a boar would suit you best."

"A boar?" Haruka pouts. "Seriously?"

"Oh!" Tamaki exclaims. "I get it, cuz' of his name!"

"Wow, you're so smart, Yotsuba," Haruka says, sarcastically.

Tamaki grins, believing it, "Thanks."

Iori clears his throat, "Anyway, if that wasn't your question, then what is it?"

Haruka had forgotten it for a brief moment.

"No, that was my question," he lies. Too embarrassed to ask it.

Maybe they were friends. Maybe he was always overthinking it, and maybe Torao and Touma were right about him being too afraid. After some time, he finally starts to eat, but it isn't long before they strike up conversation again.

"Iorin, do we have rehearsal tomorrow?" Tamaki asks Iori, hardly coherent through a mouthful of rice.

"Yes, we do," he says. "3 o'clock. After school."

Then, it hits Haruka, the sudden realization. The realization that maybe he was mistaken. Maybe Iori and Tamaki were friends, and he was an outsider. They were part of Idolish7 after all, and Haruka wasn't. They could talk about rehearsal, the other five members of their group, and living in the same home. All he could talk about was schoolwork, about Aya sometimes, and about the other idol groups. Is that what friends did?

So, he just blurts it out, "Are we friends?"

It's quiet now but their stares are loud.

"If you want to call it that," Iori finally says, breaking the silence. Haruka notices the faint smile hiding behind his hand.

Tamaki blinks in confusion, "I thought we always were. We're not?"

Haruka feels lighter all of a sudden, happier. 

"We are," he confirms with an unbearable grin.

He could already hear what the other members of Zool would say. All the "I told you so's" and the "I was right's". It didn't bother him. After all, he had friends now. Apparently, he always did.

"What was that about earlier?" Iori wonders out loud, walking alongside Tamaki after school. Haruka had already gone home.

"What was what about?" Tamaki asks.

"Isumi-san's question."

"Oh, I forgot about that."

"Of course you did," Iori sighs. "It must be my fault that he even felt the need to ask such a thing. I must be too uptight."

"You are," Tamaki laughs. "And mean, too."

"I wasn't joking," Iori states.

"Me neither."

"Anyway," Iori says, moving the conversation forward. "He must've realized it... I'll tell him the truth tomorrow. That it was actually my idea for Nii-san to make him lunch. Maybe he'll think of me as a friend, then."

"He'll think you're a liar."

"He won't."

The next day, Haruka didn't think Iori was a liar. He was more flattered than anything else. When he told Zool about school that day (like he told them everyday), they suggested that he might have something more than a friend. Haruka rolls his eyes and tells them that just having a friend was enough. For now.

---

a/n:

i just wrote 2 sentences that somehow turned into an 800 word oneshot about haruka being anxious and wondering whether or not he has friends... me too haru.. me too. 

this isnt romance but it def has potential.... also, i rlly love writing abt the high schoolers. can you tell? might as well write a full on fic bc i cannot get enough