Chapter Text
Harua groans, completely and utterly done with school and its entire existence. Trying to finish his homework is like trying to finish a bowl of yogurt without getting disgusted - impossible.
He leans back in his chair, now regretting not paying better attention in class today. It’s hard for him to pay attention. It always has been, and he knows that, but he wishes he had the same ability to focus that everyone else has.
Like now, for instance, the assignment he’s working on won’t take more than fifteen minutes if he properly applies himself, but he can’t find it in himself to do that. His mind is too busy replaying the choruses from five different songs he listened to last week.
Years back, he was prescribed a medication to slow his mind and help him focus, but of course, he never noticed it working, so he quit taking it. His mom used to try and get him to tryout a different medicine, but he refused.
Staring at the monitor before him, he tries to force himself into caring about the words he’s reading. He wants to be able to do this. But alas, it takes less than five seconds to cave. Before he gets too stressed, he does the one thing that he knows will help. He calls Maki.
The phone only rings once before Maki picks up, greeting Harua with an energetic “Hello!”
“Have you started the economics homework yet?” Harua questions, a small hint of desperation in his voice. He hopes they can work together, he likes when Maki thinks about the questions for himself rather than just explaining them.
“Nope!” Maki sips a drink that sounds all too much like the infamous soda. “But I was just about to.”
Sighing, Harua taps his finger on the side of his phone, getting slightly distracted. “Put the Dr. Pepper down, Maki.”
“Okay, I get it, it’s an addiction,” he speaks mockingly, like he has heard that exact phrase a thousand times. “You’re no better than me, calling me up for help once again.”
“The difference is that I can’t help it,” Harua immediately gets defensive, though he was still smiling. “You are willingly destroying your guts!”
“Destroying is a strong word,” Maki says, and Harua can practically see his eyes rolling. “Listen, I’ll get my karma in thirty years when I rapidly gain weight, let me be for now.”
Harua drops the mini argument, only because he knows that if he doesn’t right now, his homework will never get done. “Fine. Now help me!”
And from there, the two hop on face time so Harua can see Maki to better understand his explanations.
It was always like this. Maki was Harua’s desk buddy in fourth grade. Harua stopped taking his medication in fourth grade. The partnership simply ended up working.
At first, their teacher thought that Maki was a distraction to Harua due to Maki’s energetic demeanor, so she separated them and gave Harua a new partner. When Harua’s performance dropped, she put the two back together. Maki wasn’t a distraction, he was Harua’s learning outlet.
As for Harua’s other partner, Jo, he did at least become a good friend. He was very quiet, but his kindness attracted Harua. Harua liked that he was quiet, but after learning to work with Maki who always spoke a decibel too loud, he found it a little harder to concentrate.
It was then, in fourth grade, that Harua’s first real friend group had formed.
Maki was a new student. He had came from America, which surprised Harua because his Japanese was nearly perfect, aside from the occasional grammar mistakes. But later, he found out that Maki grew up speaking both languages.
Jo had gone to the same school all his life, he just didn’t socialize much, so Harua didn’t exactly notice him. But, with Jo’s friendship came another: Nicholas.
Nicholas, despite his intimidating look, was very friendly. Though Harua had a harder time opening himself up to the idea of befriending him, he grew to love him. He was a bit more rowdy as a kid, like Maki, but Harua liked that better on Maki.
“Can we please play Fortnite now?” Maki asks, voice airy with pure boredom. He has been tutoring Harua for nearly an hour now.
With a forgiving giggle, Harua saves his work and uploads it to the classroom. “Yes, I’m sorry, that class just sucks.”
“I know,” Maki sounds almost regretful, like he might have accidentally offended Harua. “I understand, I like helping you.”
Harua smiles sheepishly before glancing down at his phone to see what Maki looks like while saying that. He’s noticed that Maki has a really specific look when he’s being sweet, and it’s similar to the way he looks when he’s trying to get something he wants, but there’s a difference only Harua catches.
Harua is glad his face is currently hidden from view. He doesn’t know why, but he feels embarrassed when Maki catches him smiling over his sweet talk. He feels his cheeks heat up a little just at the thought.
“Just log on,” Harua lets out a breathy laugh. He fears he may have been quiet for a second too long.
With one last big gulp of his soda, Maki replies. “I’ve been logged on, I’m waiting for you!”
After the game finishes loading up, Harua notices one of his friends online. “Hey, Nicho is online!”
There’s silence for a second. Maki knows what Harua is insinuating with that observation.
“Should we invite him?” Harua asks.
Maki has already slid his face out of view on the phone. “If you wanna.”
Harua peeks at his phone, half of his face coming into view for a second. “You sure?”
Maki doesn’t go back into frame. “Mhm.”
Harua’s lips purse in thought. He knows Maki and Nicholas don’t get along the same way he and Nicholas do, but they’re still friends and they often play together.
“I won’t,” Harua says and quickly sends Maki a party invite.
Maki perks up, immediately accepting the invite, a small smile meeting his lips. “Oh, that’s cool.”
Maki doesn’t have to say much for Harua to catch his vibe. They’ve been best friends for nearly eight years, it would be hard not to understand each other that way.
Nicholas is one of Harua’s closest friends, so of course he wants to play with him, but he can tell that Maki simply isn’t feeling it right now, and there is nothing wrong with that. Situations like this have happened before.
Still, Harua is curious. Not in the nosey drama queen way, just a ‘want to know my friend’s thoughts’ way. He doesn’t ever push for reasons. If Maki wants to explain, he will.
“Wanna go to the arcade with me tomorrow?” Maki suddenly asks with a monotone voice that screams ‘this question is asked almost every day’.
“Of course!” Harua chirps, his back straightening with excitement. They go to the arcade most weekend nights, but it’s still a fun activity to look forward to.
Maki sighs, a hint of disappointment appearing in the sound. “Too bad we have to go to school.”
The reminder causes Harua’s excitement to pivot rapidly. His shoulders slump and he lets out a loud huff. “You didn’t have to say that.”
Truthfully, school isn’t nearly as draining as the two act like it is. The workload is annoying, as well as the fact that they’re trapped inside for eight hours a day, but aside from that, it’s really just a big hangout session with their friends.
Within a minute, neither of them are thinking about school or anything to do with the coming day. They play Fortnite until a regretful hour, but tomorrow is Friday - it’s basically already the weekend. (Maki’s logic.)
The piercing sound of the bell ringing throughout Harua’s head pained him physically. He hissed in aggravation, raising a hand up to his head. Clearly, the horrible idea to stay up until 2 AM is showing its consequences.
“Are you okay?” Jo asks from beside him as he lifts his backpack onto his shoulder. The first bell meant it was time for classes to begin their sessions.
Harua nods, slowly picking his backpack up off of the bleachers. “Yeah, my head just hurts a little.”
He looks around at the people nearest to him. Everyone is piling out of the gymnasium to get to their first classes, but Harua is more focused on finding someone.
“Looking for Maki?” a sudden voice comes, followed by a friendly arm being wrapped around his shoulder.
He laughs lightly, losing his balance at the action. “Yeah, we played games until like- way past midnight.”
Offended, Nicholas lays a dramatic hand on his chest. “I was on last night, why didn’t I get an invite?”
Though Harua knows he is being playful, it does still make him feel bad. So, wanting to spare Nicholas the potentially hurtful details, he lies. “We didn’t notice you were online.”
Just as the three boys are squeezing themselves out of the door, Maki approaches them, wearing the exact same expression as Harua.
“My mom almost kicked my ass this morning,” he giggles at own words. He notices Nicholas’s arm around Harua. He goes on to throw an arm around Jo.
“She should have,” Jo giggles softly, the remnants of a groggy morning appearing in his voice. “You two are idiots for that.”
“It wasn’t even my decision, Maki was the one claiming that Friday is already the weekend!” Harua argues, defending himself immediately. He isn’t one to take the blame for something he didn’t do.
“But who still decided to stay up?” Nicholas butts in before craning his neck to look into Harua’s eyes while wearing a smug smirk.
Without missing a beat, Harua blows on his face, making him swing his head back into his own space.
Maki laughs at the scene. Harua doesn’t often use his words as a comeback, but he opts for a quick, sly action to avoid being teased.
Then he stops laughing. The arm around Jo’s shoulder unconsciously tightens its grip - just slightly. Jo doesn’t notice. Neither does Maki.
But Maki does notice the tiny smile trying to hide itself on Harua’s lips, and he notices the way Nicholas laughs at his antics so casually. Not offended, not grossed out, just casual - like it was just another normal little interaction between them.
And for some reason, it kills him.
When Nicholas and Jo finally part from the group to get to their homeroom class, both remaining boys let out a low energy sigh.
“I’m so tired.”
“Me too.”
That’s as much that is said for the rest of the walk to their class. They walk close together, their arms swinging lazily against the other’s. They seem to be a little more invasive of each other’s personal space this morning. They both notice, and they both blame it on being tired and craving the fading warmth of their beds.
The headache that Harua has been experiencing is pounding. He wants a nap, or coffee, or really anything to wake him up. Maki usually has more energy. Today must just be different.
Maki hums very lowly, even Harua whose head is maybe five inches away can’t hear it. His energy is depleted now. He came with energy, but he assumes seeing both Harua and Jo in sluggish states brought him down, too.
Classes are going to drag today.