themorninglark:

Ooh, great question. Thank you!

My sense of things is that what Haru feels is not quite the same as Makoto. I wouldn’t call it jealousy, exactly. Bear with me as I try to tease this out…

Haru’s general attitude towards Makoto doing his own thing, whether it’s joining the basketball club in middle school or going to teach at Iwatobi SC Returns in Free! ES, has always been “do whatever you like”. He says it on both occasions. He even says it in response to the Tokyo bombshell moment in S2E11. In HS!2 he thinks that it’s annoying and irrelevant that Makoto is seeking his opinion on him joining the basketball club. He also finds it annoying that for Makoto, the choice between basketball and swimming seems to have become a choice between Kisumi and Haru.

You would definitely never find Haru doing a Makoto and saying to Nagisa, “I think I was a little jealous of Kisumi.” No way. He’ll always say that Makoto should do whatever he wants to, and I think that some part of Haru genuinely does believe this, that it’s okay for Makoto to go off on his own.

But Haru’s actions and feelings don’t always bear this out. In HS!2, Haru realises that swimming without Makoto and Rin is lonely for him. We see the way he keeps showing up at the club when Makoto’s teaching and the way he rebuffs Kisumi’s friendly advances in S2E8. In HS!2 there’s a bit where Kisumi remarks that “Makoto handed in his club application form”, and what strikes Haru is that Kisumi and Makoto seem to have made friends so quickly they are now on first name terms. Then he thinks that they’re the same type of person, always friendly with others.

This indicates one important difference betwen Haru and Makoto that defines the “jealousy” question: Haru lets very few people into his life, so Makoto has reason to be jealous of Rin, who is one of the few people as close to Haru as Makoto is. Makoto, on the other hand, is a super warm-hearted, loving, open person. Haru is obviously the most important person to him, but Makoto naturally attracts other people as well. Haru has to be used to it. He can’t be getting jealous of everyone who’s close to Makoto, otherwise there’d be no end of it.

Haru knows this very well. He thinks about it when Kisumi makes the “your hearts and minds are connected” remark.

Makoto can get along well with anyone, wherever he goes. Naturally blending in before he knows it, he ends up attracting people. There’s no doubt about it, he’d surely do well whether it’s basketball or swimming. Even if Haruka’s not there… (source)

So here’s the key. I don’t think it’s that Haru is jealous of others who are close to Makoto. But no matter what he admits out loud, some part of Haru does want to feel that he is important to Makoto, because otherwise – he’d be lonely. It’s probably so subconscious he doesn’t quite realise it.

It’s not the same kind of feeling as Makoto’s jealousy of Rin. I don’t think Haru is all that jealous of Kisumi so much as he just finds him annoying in general. The difference between Makoto and Haru’s attitudes towards Rin and Kisumi respectively is that Haru is not particularly preoccupied by the specific feeling that Makoto and Kisumi share something he cannot be a part of. He never tries to emulate Kisumi and take part in basketball club the same way that Makoto tries to emulate Rin by racing against Haru.

At the end of the day, I think that much of the behaviour Haru exhibits is simply a natural, instinctive reaction to your best friend doing something that doesn’t include you. He wants to believe he’s fine with it, and he always tells Makoto that he is, because on some level he really does want Makoto to do what brings him fulfilment for himself rather than just stick with Haru all the time; but it is inevitable that he feels a bit of abandonment and frustration when it happens.

He would never show it to Makoto though, because ultimately, Makoto means so much to him that he would rather Makoto go ahead and do his own thing even if it doesn’t involve him. And this is exactly the same way that Makoto feels about Haru, as we have seen on multiple occasions. ♥

scriptingsouls:

it’s worth pointing out that Haru and Mako have been jealous over each other in canon 

We have Makoto, who doesn’t act on it, doesn’t let it translate in his actions towards either Rin nor Haru

but willingly admits it out loud

And then there’s Haru

who is the opposite

he doesn’t come out and say it but..

it translates easily into his actions,his body language, and in his attitude towards both Makoto and Kisumi

Now talking with remarquis she pointed out there’s more to it.

While the scene from ep 6 with Mako stating his jealousy might have thrown some of us off as to it’s purpose in the story (since it wasn’t addressed ever again) it seems to work as a parallel to Haru’s feelings about Mako’s new relationship with Kisumi in High Speed

“……Makoto?”

He’d heard about him joining, but before he knew it, it seems like their relationship is becoming quite close. He’s impressed that as always, he’s the kind of guy to get along well with anyone. Not just Makoto, Kisumi is also the same kind. This must be what they call ‘birds of a feather flock together’. (x)

Makoto can get along well with anyone, wherever he goes. Naturally blending in before he knows it, he ends up attracting people. There’s no doubt about it, he’d surely do well whether it’s basketball or swimming. Even if Haruka’s not there…… (x)

So to Haru, Makoto and Kisumi are similar in a way because they are both sociable, something Haru himself isn’t, and because of that reason the relationship Makoto can have with Kisumi is different than the one he has with Haru. This scares Haru, for it makes him feel like he might not be able to keep up with Makoto and end up being left behind.

Much like Makoto’s feelings about Rin and Haru’s swimming rivalry. Rin and Haru are similar, they share their talent and desire to compete, something Mako doesn’t, for that reason Makoto too feels he might not be able to keep up and end up being left behind.

It’s also interesting to note that both Makoto and Haru admire each other very much, they hold each other in very high regards.

To Haru, Makoto can be good at whatever he chooses to do, and his social skills is something that to someone like Haru who lacks any, sound very impressive.

And Makoto, much like everyone else, admires Haru’s swimming, but his admiration is not limited to it at all, he admires Haru in general, like the fact Haru unlike him, doesn’t get scared easily and is brave, Mako takes Haru as an inspiration.

They both admire and treasure each other very much, for that reason they are both afraid to lose the other.

Like remarquis said:

“while their other relationships do bring out different sides of them, Makoto and Haruka always reach back and and try to find each other. They have the same concerns about each other, whether it’s Makoto letting Haruka go because he wants him to reach his potential or Haruka thinking makoto can do anything but still being afraid that he won’t be by his side

Because above anything even beyond all that jealousy Haruka and Makoto have only wanted each other to move forward”