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❝ 𝘶𝘨𝘩... 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. ❞
◦⋅‿︵‿︵‿︵ ⋅◦❖◦⋅ ︵‿︵‿︵‿⋅◦
rei wasn't gonna lie, he'd be mad if haru didn't start dating the figure skater he saw a couple weeks ago. he'd spoken to nagisa about it, who definitely wasn't subtle about asking if haru at the very least liked you. makoto seemed to know something about it, and since makoto knew haru better than he did, rei decided that he'd look into it.
"what did you want to talk about?" the green-eyed boy asked once they'd reached the rooftop.
"do you know the friend that haru's been talking to outside of school?" rei asked, unsure of how to word the question. makoto's mood seemed to lift at the mention of the 2, so he figured it wasn't a bad attempt at investigating.
"oh, [name]?"
"have you met them?" rei wondered, mildly surprised that he knew your name.
rei hummed, hesitantly nodding his head even though he knows for a fact he has met you. "i saw them with haru after school. they were walking to get something to eat," he explained. "i guess i was just wondering if haru had feelings for them."
"for who?"
the boys froze at the sound of haru's voice. rei, who'd known haru for much less than makoto, fumbled over his words to come up with a cover up, unsure of how haru would react to them talking about his personal life without him. however, makoto didn't seem all too worried, but rei could tell he was at least a little bit weary.
"we were just talking about you and [name]," he said. at the mention of you, haru's eyes widened slightly before returning to his regular expression.
"it doesn't matter if i do or don't," haru said, averting his gaze to the pool that could be seen from the rooftop.
"but do you?"
"i don't know."
at the unsure response, they decided to drop the subject, not wanting to send haru into a crisis when he got home. little did they know, it was a little bit too late. now that he was thinking about it, haru was starting to get antsy, not liking the uncertainty about himself, and little did he know, that was going to get worse later on that day.
when he passed you on the way home, he knew he'd be in the bath for at least 2 hours. it wasn't hard to tell that he wasn't particularly in the mood to watch you practice, but you weren't bothered by it. he'd been joining you for a while, he didn't need to come to all of them. so instead, you decided to settle with a question.
"hey, haru?"
"yeah?"
"what's your number?"
he paused at your request, not only because he wasn't expecting it, but... he didn't actually remember it. he didn't have a reason to until now. it was kind of embarrassing, but he figured instead of giving you the wrong number, he just held out his hand for your phone, to which you happily gave. "there you go," he said, returning it to you, now accustomed to your seemingly permanent ice cold hands as you brushed fingers.
"thanks! i'll send you something now to double check."
he waited for longer than he thought, staring at his phone screen blankly. when a text from an unknown number appeared, he almost laughed when he saw the photo. it was you smiling awkwardly, lips disappearing within the thin line they formed while you were in the cafe from the first time you had dinner. "got it."
"awesome!" you gave him a brief hug before heading back inside the rink. "see you next time!"
so as you can imagine, haru had quite the large pile of thoughts to sift through that night. as he sat in the tub in silence, he stared at the dolphin keychain he bought when he was a child. while trying to remember what was covered in class that day, his attention was drawn back to your eyes that often met his gaze. you, who he had an almost instant connection to, was distracting.
he thought about his short conversation with rei and makoto, and he spiralled further. his mind raced as he was reminded of the hug you gave him earlier that day and he sunk below the water, hoping to clear his mind of you.
which didn't work.
as he rose from the bath, hair stuck to his face and droplets along his lashes, he heaved a sigh at his realisation.
"ugh... romance."
did he want to explain his conflict to makoto and rei? not really. was he going to? maybe. is there a risk that the entire club will know soon after? absolutely. does he fully realise that he holds a sliver of romantic attraction to you? no.
