Relationship Text

Busted

During the next few weeks, Haruka reminded Sousuke twice a day to do his physio. They spoke more often now than they ever did when Haruka lived in Iwatobi. Their conversations consisted of anything and everything; ranging from something ridiculous like when Haru's pen stopped working halfway through his writing essay, to talking of their future plans after graduation. They had both established neither knew what the future had in store for them nor had they even given it a second thought. Haruka was somewhat relieved that he wasn't the only one with no clue on what to do with his life. It was undisputable Rin and Makoto had it all planned out; Rin undoubtedly had a board plastered on the wall with step by step objectives.

Sousuke knew, for one thing, was that he would never swim professionally, no matter how hard he tried. He was hesitant to admit it at first but decided if anyone was going to know, it might as well be Haruka. When the butterfly swimmer told him through a text and Haruka didn't respond, Sousuke had made the executive decision to call. The two of them spend almost half an hour in silence, listening to each other's shallow breaths as they both tried to decide what to say. Haruka must have heard a hitch in his breathing as he thought of his swimming career ending so abruptly and decided to pierce the stillness with a question.

"Are you okay?"

"Not really." Sousuke scoffed in shaky amusement, an involuntary sniff bypassed his impeccable control as he wiped his eye before a tear could escape. He knew Haru was just trying to comfort him in his own peculiar way, which somehow made this situation easier to handle.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Haruka asked. Sousuke could hear the underlying hope that he'd say no to the provided olive branch to speak his mind, and he couldn't help but smirk.

"No."

"Okay," Haruka said and Sousuke heard the quiet sigh of relief the ravenette let out.

"Thanks, Nanase." The butterfly swimmer allowed himself to smile and closed his eyes briefly.

"What for?"

"Being you," Sousuke answered Haru's question. There was another lull in the conversation, Sousuke finding comfort in Haruka's presence. Sousuke could hear the ravenette's breathing become unsteady and gently hummed into the phone in an attempt to calm Haru's racing mind. When the ravenette spoke again Sousuke laid there in a daze of shock and contentment.

"Haru. You can call me Haru."

Haruka Nanase wanted him- Sousuke Yamazaki- to call him Haru. A privilege he gave to a select few. Could he even allow his mouth to shape the name from his throat? Sousuke was about to test it out but yelled out in horror when Rin's face appeared directly above him.

"Oh my god, Rin! Where did you come from?!" Sousuke pushed his face away with his hand and grabbed his chest as his heart tried to break free from his ribcage. He glanced at the phone in his hand and hurriedly slid his phone beneath his pillow. He hoped Haru would be unable to hear Sousuke attempting to avoid who he was speaking to on the phone when Rin asked him accusingly.

"It's no one, Rin. I was just playing a game." Sousuke shrugged nonchalantly and clenched his jaw when his excuse didn't deter the redhead's glare.

"Sousuke don't lie to me. Who's on the phone?" Rin asked again and Sousuke huffed in defeat.

"No one. Just a friend." Sousuke answered somewhat honestly.

"Oh please. You don't have friends."

"Oi!" Sousuke gaped at him and pushed his friend away from the ladder he had attached himself to.

"You wanna come for a run?" Rin asked and Sousuke internally thanked him for letting him keep this secret. He watched Sousuke grasp at his phone from under the pillow and bring it to his ear. "I'm sure you 'friend' won't mind you leaving for a bit."