Of the Obvious

Disclaimer: don't own.

By the time Kawahara realizes he's living in one of his sister's dumb shoujo manga it's already far too late. The signs don't appear out of nowhere but it takes him too long to notice and by the time he does the spring is in full swing and he's unwittingly and unwillingly in the middle of an angst-ridden tale of high school sweethearts who could save time and trouble by just admitting their feelings and getting it over and done with—and also it would be a lot less bother for Kawahara himself. It's all well and good when other people are pining, except when those people are Kawahara's best friends and they're pining for each other, gazing longingly across the classroom with such dumb looks on their face that Kawahara fantasizes about poking their eyes out with a pencil. And whenever he's in the company of one, he only wants to talk about the other—neither of them has even out and said they like the other yet, but it's painfully obvious.

What makes matter even worse is how much taller Fukuda's gotten in the past few months, fifteen centimeters at least, causing him to bump his head on door frames and tree branches and ledges and shelves—every time he does it Furihata will turn to Kawahara and ask if he thinks Fukuda's okay and it's gotten to the point where Kawahara wants to tell him that yes he should take him to the nurse just to get both of them out of his sight.

And every time they talk to each other there's stammering and blushing involved on both ends even when it's something mundane, and they're always looking for excuses to borrow pencils or water bottles or money from each other and it's sick how much they relish the brief touches of each other's hands. Can they really not tell the other one feels exactly the same? Considering how dense they usually are, it's actually quite possible.

Kawahara's taking a water break with Kuroko at practice; some of the others are still running laps—Kagami, Tsuchida, Izuki, and Fukuda.

"Fukuda-kun has gotten much faster since the Winter Cup," says Kuroko. "And he's raised his endurance."

This might be one of those times when Kuroko's trying to insinuate something else. If it isn't, well, Kawahara can rag on Fukuda and Furihata for being dense all he wants but he's as thick as an encyclopedia himself—but fuck it; he's dense and he's realized how the two of them feel so he'll trust his instinct on this one.

"He's only doing it because he thinks it's going to help Furi," says Kawahara.

A ghost of a smile flits across Kuroko's face. "Is that so?"

Kawahara wipes his brow with his shirt. "I can't deal with them eye-fucking much longer."

"I did notice something like that the other day when Fukuda-kun came to the library."

"Did he bump his head on the doorway?"

Kuroko shakes his head. "He asked specifically for Furihata-kun and then spent several minutes trying to describe a book that to the best of my knowledge does not exist."

Kawahara rolls his eyes. "Try being around that all the time. And whenever it's only one of them it might be even worse."

"So what do you suggest?"

"Huh?"

"What do you suggest that we do about them?"

"Nothing. They're making me suffer so they deserve to suffer longer. Besides, if they get together I'll have to deal with them making out all the time."

Kuroko's blank stares can be quite terrifying, and it's only a few seconds before Kawahara caves.

"Okay, fine. They're my best friends and I do want them to be happy. And they'll stop pining so much. But I have no idea what to do."

"Hey, Kawahara, Kuroko!" Koganei calls. "Stop slacking!"

They jog off to join the rest of the group.

Kuroko had suggested that they meet at Maji, and he'd also brought Kagami—Kawahara's immediate thought is that he probably won't be any help, and considering that he freely admits to seeing no change whatsoever in Fukuda's or Furihata's behavior the probably inches closer and closer to definitely.

"I just don't see why you can't let them figure it out," he says through a mouthful of burger.

"They're clearly not just going to figure it out."

Kagami takes another bite. "Is it really any of our business?"

"They made it my business when they put me in the middle. Let's see how long you last when you've got them making eyes at each other and hinting about their feelings all the time."

Kagami shrugs. "Whatever you two plan, count me out."

"Fine," says Kawahara. "Kuroko, any ideas?"

Kuroko chews on his straw and shakes his head. Kawahara sighs.

"So let's meet tomorrow after practice?"

"I can't. Furihata-kun and I have to make up time we missed for the library committee and organize the books tomorrow."

Kawahara blinks. "That's it."

Taking Fukuda up to the library is almost effortless, and Kawahara soothes himself with the fact that the premise (picking up Furihata) isn't a complete lie and practically drags Fukuda up the stairs. Kuroko is waiting outside the door, one hand tucked behind his back, and he nods at Kawahara.

Kawahara claps Fukuda on the shoulder (as best he can manage considering how Fukuda towers over him now) and pushes him through the door.

"Go get your man."

"What?"

And Kuroko slams the door behind him, placing the key in the lock and turning it.

"Kawahara-kun?"

Kawahara exhales. "Yeah. They've either figured it out or they're totally hopeless."

Kuroko nods and inserts the key in the lock. Whether the silence from the other side is a good thing or a bad thing is yet to be determined (is it an awkward silence? Is it comfortable?) but as they open the door there is still nothing. At least they're not running toward it, but for a fleeting second Kawahara wonders if they've managed to escape out the window or something, but then he and Kuroko step inside and there they are.

Fukuda is embracing Furihata, enveloping him in his freakishly long arms, and Furihata's hands are gripping the sides of Fukuda's uniform jacket tightly and his face is buried in Fukuda's chest. Fukuda lifts his head finally to glare at Kuroko and Kawahara, nudging Furihata lightly on the shoulder.

Furihata turns toward them, blushing furiously but continuing to clutch Fukuda's jacket with one hand.

"Why are you here?"

"What do you mean? We locked you in," says Kawahara.

"You can unlock the door from the inside," says Furihata.

Kuroko blinks. Kawahara stares at him—he's on the library committee and he doesn't know this?

"Anyway, you should be thanking us," says Kawahara.

"Thanks," says Fukuda, squeezing Furihata closer.

"Yeah, thanks," says Furihata, heaving a sigh and snuggling closer to Fukuda.

They're nauseatingly cute; for a second Kawahara regrets the whole thing—but they look so happy, even with Furihata trying to keep up the disgruntled expression they're both really smiling and they're turned toward each other in excited relief. Damn.