Rin looks at Sousuke like it's some kind of horror, like his whole world has shaken and fallen and is crumbling under his feet.
Sousuke looks off to the side, away from the camera on his phone, the digital image of Rin looking at him from Australia. From an entirely different world. "You asked."
And then Rin flushes, looks embarrassed, hand behind his head scratching at the shorter strands of hair than Sousuke remembers. Of course he got his hair cut, racing with a nationally ranked uni team, but Sousuke still feels that reminder of how much is changing and how much he's not sure how he feels about it all. Rin is in Australia, Kisumi still back at Iwatobi, Haru and Makoto and now him in Tokyo...
"It's not- I just- since when are you into guys?" Sousuke looks back to the screen with a crease in his brow, but it eases away when he sees Rin's honestly curious look. There's a little bit of a smile there, too, tugging at the corner of Rin's lips. He's not really sure if he means it as a joke or if Rin is honestly amused by Sousuke's pouting, but either way Sousuke looks away again.
"I don't know. I don't know if I even am. I just-" He huffs, and Rin laughs, light and easy. "I don't know."
"You want to be his friend." That draws Sousuke's eyes back, once last time, and Rin is all out grinning. "But you're also into him."
"Maybe." Rin nods, looks like he's thinking, and Sousuke suddenly feels like this whole situation has very quickly spiraled out of his control. "Rin, don't-"
"Don't worry about it! And do your homework."
"Rin-"
"I'm serious! You're a year behind. Get to work!" And then Rin cuts the call, and Sousuke is left staring at a blank screen, wondering exactly when Rin supposedly decided he was good at setting people up. But then he just sighs, turns over, and pulls out his Calc textbook.
He can worry about it later.
----------------
He should have worried about it then.
Because he goes to class that next week, makes it to Wednesday without any issue, heads down to the library to do his homework. He ends up thinking, vaguely distracted, about whether or not he'll catch Makoto and Nanase in D-hall tomorrow (usually the only times he does) when...well.
Nanase happens.
Or more so, Nanase appears, standing in the middle of the hallway for who knows how long. Right up until Sousuke steps into him, nearly knocks him over, before looking down and seeing those same eyes looking back up at him.
He steps back.
"Nanase." A pause, and then he frowns. "What?"
Haru stares at him for another moment, and then another moment more, before he shakes his head. "You eat at the cafeteria during the week, right?"
Sousuke blinks. "What?"
Haru blinks back, sighs, very obviously tired of the conversation already. "You have a meal plan, right? Most first years do."
"Yeah?"
Haru nods. "We'll save a spot for you." And then he's gone, like the conversation never happened, leaving Sousuke standing in the middle of the hallway like he hadn't just been set up on some kind of weird lunch-date with someone he spoke to once back in high school.
Sousuke stands there for another two, maybe three seconds, before letting out a sigh and continuing to the library to study. He doesn't get much done.
----------------
When Sousuke makes it to the cafeteria that next day, he has half a mind to turn back around. Not that there is anything all that different about the crowded room and tables, the lines for the food, or the echoing overlay of hundreds of different conversations. If anything, everything is almost too much the same as every other day he's walked in here. The way the other students subconscious part when he walks through the doors, the way he curls his headphones around his phone and stuffs it into his pockets, the way his eyes immediately scan the heads around the room for Makoto.
The habit had been borne out of curiosity, remained out of mild interest, and continued out of- what, exactly, he wasn't quite sure.
He did know, though, that usually when he did find Makoto in the crowd, he was usually talking to someone else. More often than not, it was Nanase, though he had seen him in groups of what had assumed to be his fellow students.
Today, though, when he makes it over to where Makoto usually always hovered right outside of the line, he finds him looking back. Their eyes meet, Makoto breaks out into an easy smile, and Sousuke looks away. Looks away, but doesn't necessarily feel like turning around anymore.
It takes a bit longer for him to get through the line, but eventually he does make it, surprised to find Makoto had been waiting for him.
"Ah- Yamazaki-kun, you came."
Sousuke doesn't know what he sees there, but it looks kind of like relief. Like Makoto hadn't expected him to show. Sousuke gives him a one-sided shrug, walking up next to him. "I'm usually here on Thursdays anyway." He doesn't mention that Nanase hadn't really given him room to argue, because in doing so would actually do what Nanase told him, and a selfish, stubborn part of him refused to allow that to happen. "And I thought I told you to call me Sousuke."
Almost two years ago, but he hopes Makoto doesn't call him out on it.
He doesn't, his smile turning to something a little embarrassed. "Right, right, sorry. Where would you like to sit?"
"Don't you and Nanase usually sit-" But then he stops, realizing what exactly that would give away and feeling his face get a little warm. Makoto is watching him, which makes it worse, before he ends up laughing a little.
"Ah, yeah, Haru and I usually sit in the next room. But he's not here today, so..."
Sousuke stops, brow drawing together in an apparently easy enough expression to read, considering how Makoto's face turns red and he turns away from him, rubbing at the back of his neck with his hand.
"He's not?"
Makoto gives another nervous laugh. "I...might have asked him not to?"
For a while, there's silence. Sousuke is staring at Makoto, and Makoto is very pointedly not looking back, searching the room for an open table. Sousuke finds himself following Makoto as they move through the crowd, settling at a table in the corner. When they both sit, and Makoto is still staring everywhere but Sousuke, Sousuke manages to snort a bit softly.
"Makoto."
It draws the other's eyes back up to him, and Sousuke may or may not feel himself give a small grin at how the flush to Makoto's cheeks hadn't fallen any.
"Did you want this to be a date?"
A pause, and then Makoto's eyes widen, panic flickering across his face. "I mean, not- not really? I just figured that you and Haru- or just, ever since the school festival I wanted- I mean. Rin mentioned-"
Sousuke's eyebrows shoot up his forehead. "You talked to Rin?"
Makoto nods, looking more guilty with every passing second. "Two days ago? He'd mentioned how you hadn't really...made any friends yet..."
He sighs, shaking his head. Of course it was Rin, he knew it would be Rin, and yet-
"It-" Makoto looks back down to his lunch, fiddling with his chopsticks instead of looking back up at Sousuke as he talks to him. "It doesn't have to be a date. I guess that was just. Me. But I've seen you in here before, and you do usually sit by yourself, and I just figured maybe you'd want...someone to sit next to?"
Sousuke watches as Makoto starts to relax, like he's finally let something he's been holding off his chest, and when his green eyes flicker back up to check Sousuke's expression, he finds something equally relaxed. Something a bit more enlightened.
Well. Rin did it.
"I'm-" It's Sousuke's turn to feel a bit nervous, shifting in his seat to sit up a little more. "I'm okay with it being a date."
Makoto's shoulders drop a little, a smile tugging at his lips. "Really?"
"Yeah." Sousuke gives a nod, and then a small smile. "I'd also-" He cuts himself off, avoiding Makoto's eyes for a moment. Makoto waits, silently, still watching him until Sousuke's attention comes back. "I'd also be okay with an actual one."
Again, Makoto's eyes go a little wide, and it tightens something in Sousuke's gut to realize how cute it looks behind his glasses. "Like dinner?"
"And dessert?"
Makoto's smile widens as he nods, sitting back in his seat. Whatever tension had been in the air from the awkwardness of when they'd first sat down eases away, and Sousuke finds he can't really keep his eyes off of Makoto, even through the silence. Makoto notices, confused, and Sousuke laughs lightly.
"Sorry. I just...like the glasses.
And then Makoto grins, turning his chopsticks in his noodles, and Sousuke thinks maybe telling Rin wasn't that bad of an idea.
[FILL] TEAM ARAKITA YASUTOMO/FUKUTOMI JUICHI, G
Word Count: 1541
"You're kidding me."
Rin looks at Sousuke like it's some kind of horror, like his whole world has shaken and fallen and is crumbling under his feet.
Sousuke looks off to the side, away from the camera on his phone, the digital image of Rin looking at him from Australia. From an entirely different world. "You asked."
And then Rin flushes, looks embarrassed, hand behind his head scratching at the shorter strands of hair than Sousuke remembers. Of course he got his hair cut, racing with a nationally ranked uni team, but Sousuke still feels that reminder of how much is changing and how much he's not sure how he feels about it all. Rin is in Australia, Kisumi still back at Iwatobi, Haru and Makoto and now him in Tokyo...
"It's not- I just- since when are you into guys?" Sousuke looks back to the screen with a crease in his brow, but it eases away when he sees Rin's honestly curious look. There's a little bit of a smile there, too, tugging at the corner of Rin's lips. He's not really sure if he means it as a joke or if Rin is honestly amused by Sousuke's pouting, but either way Sousuke looks away again.
"I don't know. I don't know if I even am. I just-" He huffs, and Rin laughs, light and easy. "I don't know."
"You want to be his friend." That draws Sousuke's eyes back, once last time, and Rin is all out grinning. "But you're also into him."
"Maybe." Rin nods, looks like he's thinking, and Sousuke suddenly feels like this whole situation has very quickly spiraled out of his control. "Rin, don't-"
"Don't worry about it! And do your homework."
"Rin-"
"I'm serious! You're a year behind. Get to work!" And then Rin cuts the call, and Sousuke is left staring at a blank screen, wondering exactly when Rin supposedly decided he was good at setting people up. But then he just sighs, turns over, and pulls out his Calc textbook.
He can worry about it later.
----------------
He should have worried about it then.
Because he goes to class that next week, makes it to Wednesday without any issue, heads down to the library to do his homework. He ends up thinking, vaguely distracted, about whether or not he'll catch Makoto and Nanase in D-hall tomorrow (usually the only times he does) when...well.
Nanase happens.
Or more so, Nanase appears, standing in the middle of the hallway for who knows how long. Right up until Sousuke steps into him, nearly knocks him over, before looking down and seeing those same eyes looking back up at him.
He steps back.
"Nanase." A pause, and then he frowns. "What?"
Haru stares at him for another moment, and then another moment more, before he shakes his head. "You eat at the cafeteria during the week, right?"
Sousuke blinks. "What?"
Haru blinks back, sighs, very obviously tired of the conversation already. "You have a meal plan, right? Most first years do."
"Yeah?"
Haru nods. "We'll save a spot for you." And then he's gone, like the conversation never happened, leaving Sousuke standing in the middle of the hallway like he hadn't just been set up on some kind of weird lunch-date with someone he spoke to once back in high school.
Sousuke stands there for another two, maybe three seconds, before letting out a sigh and continuing to the library to study. He doesn't get much done.
----------------
When Sousuke makes it to the cafeteria that next day, he has half a mind to turn back around. Not that there is anything all that different about the crowded room and tables, the lines for the food, or the echoing overlay of hundreds of different conversations. If anything, everything is almost too much the same as every other day he's walked in here. The way the other students subconscious part when he walks through the doors, the way he curls his headphones around his phone and stuffs it into his pockets, the way his eyes immediately scan the heads around the room for Makoto.
The habit had been borne out of curiosity, remained out of mild interest, and continued out of- what, exactly, he wasn't quite sure.
He did know, though, that usually when he did find Makoto in the crowd, he was usually talking to someone else. More often than not, it was Nanase, though he had seen him in groups of what had assumed to be his fellow students.
Today, though, when he makes it over to where Makoto usually always hovered right outside of the line, he finds him looking back. Their eyes meet, Makoto breaks out into an easy smile, and Sousuke looks away. Looks away, but doesn't necessarily feel like turning around anymore.
It takes a bit longer for him to get through the line, but eventually he does make it, surprised to find Makoto had been waiting for him.
"Ah- Yamazaki-kun, you came."
Sousuke doesn't know what he sees there, but it looks kind of like relief. Like Makoto hadn't expected him to show. Sousuke gives him a one-sided shrug, walking up next to him. "I'm usually here on Thursdays anyway." He doesn't mention that Nanase hadn't really given him room to argue, because in doing so would actually do what Nanase told him, and a selfish, stubborn part of him refused to allow that to happen. "And I thought I told you to call me Sousuke."
Almost two years ago, but he hopes Makoto doesn't call him out on it.
He doesn't, his smile turning to something a little embarrassed. "Right, right, sorry. Where would you like to sit?"
"Don't you and Nanase usually sit-" But then he stops, realizing what exactly that would give away and feeling his face get a little warm. Makoto is watching him, which makes it worse, before he ends up laughing a little.
"Ah, yeah, Haru and I usually sit in the next room. But he's not here today, so..."
Sousuke stops, brow drawing together in an apparently easy enough expression to read, considering how Makoto's face turns red and he turns away from him, rubbing at the back of his neck with his hand.
"He's not?"
Makoto gives another nervous laugh. "I...might have asked him not to?"
For a while, there's silence. Sousuke is staring at Makoto, and Makoto is very pointedly not looking back, searching the room for an open table. Sousuke finds himself following Makoto as they move through the crowd, settling at a table in the corner. When they both sit, and Makoto is still staring everywhere but Sousuke, Sousuke manages to snort a bit softly.
"Makoto."
It draws the other's eyes back up to him, and Sousuke may or may not feel himself give a small grin at how the flush to Makoto's cheeks hadn't fallen any.
"Did you want this to be a date?"
A pause, and then Makoto's eyes widen, panic flickering across his face. "I mean, not- not really? I just figured that you and Haru- or just, ever since the school festival I wanted- I mean. Rin mentioned-"
Sousuke's eyebrows shoot up his forehead. "You talked to Rin?"
Makoto nods, looking more guilty with every passing second. "Two days ago? He'd mentioned how you hadn't really...made any friends yet..."
He sighs, shaking his head. Of course it was Rin, he knew it would be Rin, and yet-
"It-" Makoto looks back down to his lunch, fiddling with his chopsticks instead of looking back up at Sousuke as he talks to him. "It doesn't have to be a date. I guess that was just. Me. But I've seen you in here before, and you do usually sit by yourself, and I just figured maybe you'd want...someone to sit next to?"
Sousuke watches as Makoto starts to relax, like he's finally let something he's been holding off his chest, and when his green eyes flicker back up to check Sousuke's expression, he finds something equally relaxed. Something a bit more enlightened.
Well. Rin did it.
"I'm-" It's Sousuke's turn to feel a bit nervous, shifting in his seat to sit up a little more. "I'm okay with it being a date."
Makoto's shoulders drop a little, a smile tugging at his lips. "Really?"
"Yeah." Sousuke gives a nod, and then a small smile. "I'd also-" He cuts himself off, avoiding Makoto's eyes for a moment. Makoto waits, silently, still watching him until Sousuke's attention comes back. "I'd also be okay with an actual one."
Again, Makoto's eyes go a little wide, and it tightens something in Sousuke's gut to realize how cute it looks behind his glasses. "Like dinner?"
"And dessert?"
Makoto's smile widens as he nods, sitting back in his seat. Whatever tension had been in the air from the awkwardness of when they'd first sat down eases away, and Sousuke finds he can't really keep his eyes off of Makoto, even through the silence. Makoto notices, confused, and Sousuke laughs lightly.
"Sorry. I just...like the glasses.
And then Makoto grins, turning his chopsticks in his noodles, and Sousuke thinks maybe telling Rin wasn't that bad of an idea.