Chapter Text
“And then there is Nagisa. He’s a friendly guy, quite extraverted,” Rin said. “Loves to play pranks too.”
Sousuke groaned inwardly.
When Rin proposed going to Kyoto on a weekend trip, Sousuke had quickly agreed and packed a bag for a weekend stay. In between his studying and part time jobs, he had looked forward to what he expected to be a peaceful stay in Japan’s former capital.
What Rin had not mentioned, was that they were to meet Rin’s new circle of friends there. From his stories, they seemed loud and as if they would get on his nerves. They were to meet at the entrance to the Bamboo Forest. Walking past the many temples and gardens, a man with large glasses bumped into him but did not apologize.
“I’d like to see one of them do a few push-ups.” Sousuke said, probably loud enough for the man to hear.
“Who do you mean?” Rin said before getting distracted by a small shrine. He took out his phone and snapped a photo.
“Teacher’s pets, professor types.”
“Not this again,” Rin sighed. “You complained all the way from Yokohama to Shizuoka about them already.”
“With good reason,” Sousuke grumbled. He had been looking forward to taking a course in Criminal Profiling, only to be given a group activity with three of the worst of them. What made it worse was that they did little actual work and had him pick up the pieces, while still having a superior attititude.
“Look at that little river!” Rin called out in an attempt to distract him. “Haru would love it.”
Sousuke chose to say nothing. He loved hanging out with Rin, but for the last few weeks he couldn’t stop talking about this Haru-guy he had met in Chiba. Rin had seen Haru swimming in the ocean by himself despite the lowering temperatures. Of course, Rin had been stupid enough to join him, turning it into a race against the waves or something and now he almost seemed enamoured with that weirdo.
“Nagisa told me that Haru tried to jump into an aquarium a few times, he sure loves water,” Rin said with a big grin on his face. “And his friends once tried to fish him out of a swimming pool with a net.”
“I hope this all happened when they were like five.”
“Who knows?” Rin shrugged. “Haru only likes to eat mackerel, isn’t that funny?”
Sousuke was getting heartily sick of all these Haru-facts. “I’m going to the bathroom.”
“We’re meeting them in 15 minutes, so hurry up.”
Sousuke waved at him over his shoulder. “Yeah, yeah.”
He only went in to wash his hands, wanting a moment alone. To be honest, he didn’t look forward to meeting Haru and his equally weird friends. Sousuke didn’t have many friends, but he treasured the ones he had. He would have rather spent some time with Rin by himself, without having to socialize with people he never met and probably wouldn’t like.
Stepping out, he walked down a path lined by trees. Most of them had autumn colors. Rin would probably like a picture of these. Speaking of ...where was Rin? More importantly, where was he? He didn’t recognize the sight in front of him. A little path winding up a hill with a small pavilion in front. Knowing he was lost once again, he decided to head to the pavilion and sit down underneath it, so he could call Rin and ask him to come get him.
When he was only a few meters away, another man sat down on the very bench he had been aiming for. His hair was a light brown he didn’t see very often. He was tall too and with eyes that held none of the cynic calculation he was so used to in his field of study. Wearing a yukata with green and yellow patterns interweaving with each other, the man looked young, handsome, kind.
Sousuke was surprised at himself. He usually didn’t make quick judgments like that.
The man’s eyes met his and widened. “I’m sorry, did you want to sit here?”
Already standing up, to offer his seat, Sousuke gestured for him to sit back down. “Don’t worry, you were here first.”
A smile appeared on his face, as he shifted to the edge of the bench to make room. “Thank you. Please sit down.”
That should have been the end of the conversation, but Sousuke didn’t want it to be. “Are you from around here?”
“No, I’m just a small-town person.” Another smile that came easy for this man, but was dazzling to Sousuke. “I live in Tokyo, though.”
“So do I,” Sousuke said. “Third year student.”
“Fourth,” the man said.
This should have really been the end of it, but the other man held up his bag. “Would you like to try a cookie? I baked them myself, so they are just mediocre.”
“Sure.” Sousuke accepted the chocolate laced cookie and took a bite. “It's actually pretty good.”
“Really?” The man looked genuinely relieved.
“Yeah, thank you.” Sousuke finished the cookie in another two bites.
“Are you here on holiday?” the brunet asked.
He nodded, and remembered why he went to sit here in the first place. “Lost track of my friend.”
To his surprise, the handsome student got a pair of glasses from the small bag he carried and opened his phone. He moved closer to Sousuke, showing him a map. “This is where we are. You can call him and let him know.”
“Maps aren’t really my thing,” Sousuke admitted.
“I see. Sorry. I can tell him the location? But only if you like? I don’t want to intrude.”
Normally, he wouldn’t want help from anyone and turn it down in a rather abrupt manner. Yet how could he refuse such a kind offer from this helpful man? He dialed Rin’s number and was about to hand him the phone when a loud yell made them both look up.
“Mako-chan! We found Rin-chan.”
A blond man hurried up towards them, followed by two dark-haired men walking at a calmer pace, and Rin.
“Sousuke!” Rin called out. “Good, at least I don’t have to run around to find your dumb ass.”
Normally, Sousuke thought nothing of a comment like this by his best friend. He made them himself all the time, but he didn’t want the nice man, called Mako apparently, think he was stupid. “Watch your language!”
Rin shot him a strange look and realized he had company.
“Hey Makoto, good to see you again.”
Makoto? Wasn’t that a girl’s name? Sousuke glanced at the group. Well, so was Rin’s name of course, and Nagisa’s, and Haru’s. It struck him as a weird coincidence.
“Hey,” the blond said. “You must be Sou-chan. I’m Nagisa.”
Sousuke sent him a displeased stare at this, but Nagisa did not seem in the least intimidated.
“Yeah, and this is Haru, Rei and Makoto,” Rin added.
Rei made a polite bow, but Haru didn’t even glance at him and turned to Rin. “You said there was a lake here?”
For a moment, Sousuke felt really put off by the situation, but Makoto smiled at him apologetically. “Please excuse us, Haru just really likes water.”
He shrugged, for he in no way intended to make things uncomfortable to Makoto. “It’s fine.”
“Thank you.”
“Okay, let’s go!” Nagisa yelled. “Bamboo forest!”
“What about the lake?” Haru repeated as he and Rin started following Nagisa.
“Is there even a lake around here?” Sousuke asked Makoto quietly.
“Well, there is a river that turns a bit wider. I suspect Rin just said that so Haru would come along,” Makoto whispered back.
They fell in step behind the other guys, Haru and Rin now arguing over where to go next.
“Haru has always loved water,” Makoto said.
“Yeah, I heard.” Sousuke glanced at the other man. Though Makoto was almost as tall as he was, he had nothing scary or intimidating about him. People must feel drawn to Makoto all the time. Fuck, Sousuke knew he was.
“He used to say he wanted to date a waterfall when we were younger.” Makoto’s eyes closed as he chuckled at the memory. He was obviously fond of Haru, but Sousuke had enough of hearing about Haru.
“Tell me more about you.”
Makoto’s eyes opened, and the smile changed into a little ‘o’ of surprise. “Me?”
“Yes, you.” Sousuke’s gaze met his and stayed on his face as Makoto shyly averted his eyes.
“I don’t know what to tell.”
“Where are you from exactly?”
“Iwatobi. It’s just a small place. It’s not around the corner, but also not extremely far from here.”
“I’ve heard of it,” Sousuke said. “Did you do a lot of beach sports as you grew up? Surfing?”
“Swimming, with Haru.”
Sousuke almost felt amused. Guess he wasn’t getting rid of Haru as a conversation topic easily today.
“I guess you are good friends?”
“We lived very near each other, so we basically grew up together. He’s like an older brother to my siblings too.”
“Siblings?” Sousuke asked.
“I have a younger brother and sister. They’re twins.”
“You must have been a good big brother to them,” Sousuke concluded.
Makoto raised his hands as if he wanted to block the compliment. “Thank you, but I don’t...don’t know...”
Sousuke said nothing for a bit, as they continued to follow the others. Nagisa was trying to persuade Rin to join a costume party back in Tokyo, while Rei and Haru walked quietly, seemingly enjoying the views around them.
“It’s good it’s not so crowded,” Makoto said.
“Yeah.”
He could practically feel the nervousness eminating from Makoto, as he tried to think of something to say, so Sousuke decided to help him.
“Rin told me you swum together. Said you have an impressive backstroke.”
Sousuke expected those compliment-blocking hands now and smiled a fond smile when they indeed came up. “It’s okay to accept a compliment sometimes, you know.”
The hands froze in midair and dropped down next to Makoto’s sides. “Rin told me that as well.”
“See? Rin is not often right, but he has his moments,” Sousuke said loud enough for his friend to hear.
Rin turned around. “Hey!”
Sousuke smirked at him and turned to Makoto again. “Can you take a photo of me with this tree?”
“Sure!” Makoto let out, accepting his phone. “The one with the red leaves, right?”
“Yeah.”
He let Makoto take two pictures and gestured for him to stand next to him. “Let’s take one together too.”
Was that a blush? Sousuke suddenly desperately wanted to know, but he would never embarrass Makoto by asking. The brunet stood next to him, smelling of nice shampoo and just washed clothes.
His eyes not sure where to look, they ended up focused on Sousuke the moment he snapped the picture. Sousuke could not believe how cute Makoto looked as he smiled at him hesitantly.
Sousuke would still have this picture, even if he never saw him again after today. The moment he had the thought of not seeing Makoto after this, he knew he did not like it.
“Can I have your number? I’ll send you the picture.”
“Sure,” Makoto said and Sousuke thought he detected an eagerness that raised his hopes. He handed Makoto his phone and watched him put in his number.
“Thank you for the cookie and your help earlier. I’ll cook dinner for you sometime, to make it up to you.”
“Oh! I...you don’t have to... if you don’t want to I mean?”
“You don’t want to come over?” Sousuke asked.
“Yes! I mean no, I would like to come, yes. Just, I don’t want to inconvenience you?”
“You won’t.” Sousuke almost couldn’t handle it when Makoto’s face turned bright red. He imagined Makoto’s reaction if he kissed one of those heated up cheeks and felt something stir inside him.
“Then, yes, please,” Makoto said.
“Good, that’s settled then.”
Makoto’s mouth opened, perhaps to make sure it really wouldn’t be an inconvenience, but Nagisa knocked the wind out of him by jumping at his arm. “Mako-chan! You promised!”
“Promised what...eh... Nagisa?” he called while his blond friend pulled him along.
Nagisa dragged him towards the now visible bamboo forest and had Makoto raise him up while Rei took photos.
Watching him, Sousuke hadn’t noticed that Rin had slid up next to him. A big, knowing grin was on his face. “I thought you hated professor types?”
“I have no recollection of having said anything of the sort,” he replied, still focused on Makoto helping his friends take pictures.