Laundry

In packing for the swim club's impending training camp, Makoto realized half way through that he simply didn't have enough clean shirts to take with him.

"Ah, not again," he sighed, looking first at the half-full duffel bag and then at the empty hangers in his closet. He'd been so busy preparing everything for the retreat he hadn't done his laundry. Not that his mother wouldn't have done it for him, if he asked her, but it was just unusual for him to be so scatterbrained.

He frowned.

Truth be told, in thinking about their trip to the island, he hadn't been sleeping very well. And then there were all the other arrangements like dragging out and cleaning the camping equipment. He felt a bit frayed; it must have slipped his mind.

"I'm sure there's got to be something clean enough in here," he mumbled quietly to himself, walking over to the full hamper against the wall and pulling a few of the more obviously dirty shirts to the floor.

Reaching in again, Makoto paused. "Huh? When did I wear—-?"

He pulled out his orange shirt with the yellow sleeves. The one with the little pocket over the left breast. One of his favorites. Although, Makoto couldn't remember when he'd worn it last…

"Oh, that's right," he said with a small smile. "Haru-chan was over a couple nights ago."

His mother had invited Haru over for dinner and they'd come straight from the pool; the other boy had used their shower and had asked to borrow some extra clothes.

Makoto's fingers clenched the fabric, recalling how silly Haru had looked in the over-sized shirt, one side of the neck line slipping down almost off his shoulder.

Bringing the fabric up, he bent his head to take a quick sniff. All they had done that night was play video games. Haru couldn't have gotten it that dirty.

With a deeper inhale then he'd intended, Makoto was struck with just how… nostalgic it was. It smelled like Haruka. Like chlorine and— and something else he couldn't define, but knew instantly that it only belonged to his best friend.

It wasn't unpleasant to say the least. It was actually… kind of calming.

Makoto took in another breath.

All the worry he had about their training camp, all the worry he had about the tournament, it seemed to just drift away as he held the shirt with both hands, closing his eyes briefly.

Leave it to Haru-chan to make him feel better, even when he wasn't really there.

Makoto opened his eyes and gently folding the shirt in his arms, placing it into the duffel bag with a smile.

Well, so what if Haru had worn it? A little Haruka never hurt anyone, especially him.

A/n: Semi-canon. In the endcard for episode 4, Haruka is seen wearing a too-big-for-him orange and yellow shirt. In episode 5, Makoto is seen wearing that same shirt on the beach.