but you force yourself to choose.

[overexerted]

[it was a pretty normal day for sousuke. well, as normal as it could get in a hellhole like haven. anyway- it was the pretty standard bump and grind for him. wake up, go out and scavenge for food, and survive. some of that was hard to do with the difficult curve balls haven would throw out at them all, but, you had to adapt to them in order to survive. and that's what sousuke was good at. adapting. especially since his arm wasn't that much of an issue with him anymore.

he woke up today as he normally would have any other day. as slowly as possible. the annoying alarm clock would beep at him annoyingly in an attempt to wake him up for the new day. nothing seemed out of the ordinary when he rolled out of bed. or, at least that's what he thought. he got out of bed, stood up, and stretched slowly.

as he did this he notices that the top bunk is actually occupied by someone (you bet your ass he took the bottom bunk after rin left.) else. and upon further notice he realizes that the person has the exact same hair color as his best friend....

hm....]

Comments

[jawdacity]

[ ushering in the new year with crushing sourin feelings, great.

rin may not be able to read sousuke as well as vice versa, but that doesn't mean he can't see that this honestly bothers sousuke, no matter how mature he's being about this.

he hangs his head, feeling overwhelmed and not knowing how to express himself. not understanding why sousuke's making a big deal out of comparing their friendship with that rin shares with haru. ]

The hell is that supposed to mean. What kind of friendship do you think I have with him?

[overexerted]

[he frowns.] Do I really have to spell it out for you?

[jawdacity]

[ he's frowning right back, completely at a loss. ]

I don't know, do you have to be cryptic as shit?

[overexerted]

[but being a cryptic little shit makes his heart go round and round.] It means that I don't like Nanase because he's been able to do everything for you that I have and never will.

[you can't exactly push someone on in their career if you're no longer in it. sure you can push from the sidelines, but...]

[jawdacity]

[ and that has rin's expression twisting, anger at the forefront -- because that's how rin explodes. outwards, as loudly as possible. ]

Are you joking?

[ he steps forward, shoulders squared. into sousuke's space, as if he's ready for a fight. ]

You and Haru -- you're completely different, yeah. I wouldn't be swimming if it wasn't for Haru. He's a monster in the pool. But you -- Sousuke, we were friends even before you swam. It's not the same, of course it's not, but it's just as important. You're just as important to me.

[ and rin's not going to elaborate past that, because... well. ]

You get that, right?

[overexerted]

[he's honestly not in the mood for a fight, so the moment rin steps into his space is when he takes a step backwards. he just got his friend back, he doesn't have the energy to spare to go through something this emotional.

his eyes widen a little whenever he hears rin speak up again. sometimes he has a hard time convincing himself that he means just as much as nanase. his shoulders sag a little as he sighs.] Sometimes... I have a hard time remembering that.

[jawdacity]

[ rin rears up, ready for another sharp response -- but then he deflates, seeing the look on sousuke's face. ]

I guess that's... fair. I didn't even notice your shoulder, and I call myself your best friend. [ his hand is back on his nape. he's never been able to kick that nervous gesture. ] I'll make it up to you.

[overexerted]

[he sighs.] And I'll do my best to stay completely honest with you. [because he has a feeling that helps.....]

[jawdacity]

[ rin raises an eyebrow, nonplussed. ]

You're not gonna do your best, you're gonna do it. No other option.

[overexerted]

Oh, okay. I see. I either do or I just do. [he nudges rin in the side.]

[jawdacity]

[ yeah, dude, you're not getting off that easily. ]

C'mon, don't be a jackass. I'm serious.

[overexerted]

Be careful, Rin. I don't want to see you pop a blood vessel. [he knows tho. which is why he offers rin a tiny, apologetic smile a few seconds later.]

[jawdacity]

[ rin punches him in the shoulder, careful to choose the uninjured one. but there's a smile dragging at the corner of his mouth, too. ]

Once a jackass, always a jackass, I guess.

[overexerted]

And you kiss your mother with that mouth? [he chuckles a little as he turns his arm a little.]

[jawdacity]

You've probably heard her say worse.

[ matsuoka mommy is the most liberal of the bunch. and "liberal" also applies to her liberal use of colorful speech.

speaking of... ]

She's kinda pissed that you've never gone home to see her, you know.

[overexerted]

I actually don't think I have heard her say worse... [he rubs his chin thoughtfully.] And I've been... busy. I'll try to make time for that whenever we get out of here. [gotta visit his second mommy!]

[jawdacity]

Busy brooding in dark corners, you mean.

[ but rin lets him off the hook, knowing that sousuke won't want to get into all of that. again. ]

She was after Gou for awhile. [ and this brings genuine amusement to rin's face ] About you.

[overexerted]

[he makes a face at that brooding in dark corners comments, but then quirks a brow.] What?

[jawdacity]

[ rin nudges sousuke forward, until he can slip past him and sit on the edge of his bed. asking permission? yeah right, who do you think he is. he pats the spot next to him. ]

Handsome, accomplished, close to the family already, blah blah blah. [ his grin widens, showing off his teeth. ] Pity, huh? If Gou actually liked you, we could've ended up as brothers.

[ rin's reaction had been... well. again, that's reaching into the territory of "things rin doesn't think about or so help me god" ]

[overexerted]

[well that's... very embarrassing.... sousuke doesn't actually know what to do with his life right now oops. in fact he's just gonna sink right beside rin and rest his arms on his lap.] Ah... well, the feeling is rather mutual. Your sister is nice, but, she's not really my type... [he has dokis for another red haired baka.] So I'm glad it worked out for the best.

[jawdacity]

You're actually embarrassed.

[ rin is practically glowing. usually it's the other way around. ]

So, if my sister's not good enough for you - [ he takes the sting from the words with a flash of his grin. ] - what is your 'type'?

[overexerted]

Well it's not every day you hear about your friend's mom wanting to hook you up with their daughter. [he's even blushing! after a little while he looks over at rin and shrugs.] I don't know, I can't really describe it?

[also lmao like hell he's gonna tell rin: oh yeah you. you're my type.] I guess people I can be myself around?

[jawdacity]

[ okay, now that he's got sousuke blushing, he's definitely not letting up on this.

plus, it's kind of nice. falling back into the easy to-and-fro that has defined their friendship forever. ]

So, what. Was there someone in Tokyo?

[overexerted]

[say a word about this to someone else and he will spill all the embarrassing shit you've done when they were little.]

Ah, not really. I haven't exactly found that right person yet. [but enough about him-] What about yourself? Have you found someone?

[jawdacity]

[ hey now, don't play dirty. still, don't think rin didn't notice that attempt at deflecting. he'll get back to you. ]

Mm. Girls aren't really my thing. You know, with swimming and everything. I'm surprised you had time to think about all this, with all that crazy training you were doing, too.