Cold For You

"Alright, you all know the drill, get going!"

It was the voice they were all use to hearing too. Since the club was started it was her voice they all heard even as they swam at high speeds in the pool. Of course, their homeroom teacher would come along and speak 'wise' words of advice from the many books she love but half the time they never related to the actual situation they were all in. But after school it was the red hair first year girl, sister to Rin - Gou Matsuoka that spent just as much time and dedication to make them at top shape. She didn't need to be in the pool to show that she wanted them to be at their best.

Holding her clipboard and notes of different strokes they were going to do for the day in her arms Gou smiled. She didn't know if the boys noticed that she just loved seeing such well tone men without their shirts on and acting absolute obvious to her. But they were her friends so she had to calm herself down a bit. After all, they were her manager - she needed to act professional.

"We need to build up endurance as well as speed. If we ever enter into a relay with need to be able to last the whole leg of the race!"

But there were times she felt their coach as well as their manager, even their friend if they needed the help. But they were boys, admitting their problems to a woman seemed to be out of bounds. But she would say the same on her counterpart. There were some things she knew she could never admit to the boys.

Gou's ruby eyes gazed on the fence where another clipboard was hanging on the rails of the fence. Written in a thick black marker it shouted how many days it had to go before the competition. They were so close and she could already see her team swimming and winning and maybe saving her brother and bring him back to the way he use to be. After all, that was the reason she came to Haru's house was to ask for his help. She didn't know why she came to him first, maybe she felt hopeful that maybe he would of changed out of the cold antisocial boy she remember growing up with her brother but when they met, he was the same. Gou couldn't help but smile when he called her the way she loved - Kou.

Rubbing her nose she felt annoyed that the typical morning sniffles still lasted into the afternoon. She hated the sound of sniffing when her team needed her leadership. She reached into her pockets and noticed she was running low on tissues. The red head sighed and hung her head.

"Doesn't matter, thirty minutes and the practice is over. I can go home and get some rest."Gou spoke in an encouraging manner. "Yeah, not too long now," She smiled.

Pulling up the zipper on her red and white tracksuit up she took a seat by the pool's edge and watched the team swimming for one end of the pool to the other. They improved so much since they first started, even Rei who was now swimming different strokes without sinking to the bottom of the pool. The others swam different strokes while Haru still swam freestyle. Gou sighed at the idea.

"Not the man for change obviously," Gou stood up and yawned. "Just a little longer," Gou smiled at the idea of returning back to bed and sleep.

"Hey." A certain voice rang her from her little dream. "You should really stop spacing out a lot. You look weird."

It was Haruka Nanase's voice, cold and dull as usual. But it never bothered her as much. She grew up hearing the same expression in his voice.

"Just get back to swimming Nanase." Gou spoke formally. "Not like you're going to swim a different stroke or anything." She rolled her eyes afterwards.

Pulling the goggles down from his forehead to over his sapphire eyes, "I only swim free,"

Gou watched the man dive back into the water and swim through the water in such a beautiful manner it only made her gaze at him at awe. Holding her clipboard closer to her chest she kept on admiring him. "Just how do you do it Haruka?"

Before she knew it, the thirty minutes were up and soon all the members of the team pulled themselves out of the water got dressed and said their goodbyes. Of course some took longer than others and Haruka was noexception. By the pool's edge Gou stood with another friend of hers, Matoko Tachibana. He knew Haruka better than anyone.

Her eyebrows twitched seeing Haruka was floating on his back on the school pool, "I'm not surprised if I find him one day sleeping in the water."

"Actually he nearly did that once." Makoto laughed. "He got a nasty cold after that."

"You're not serious?" Gou spoke in utter shock. If water was a drug than Haruka would be considered seriously ill. Seeing that her friend Makoto was not joking she sighed. "I'll get some towels."

"Hey Kou," The man caused Gou to turn around to face him. "I have to go home without Haruka today. My parents are out and I have to cook for my brother and sister. I mean I'm not asking for you to wait for Haruka to get out but if you leave the keys to him, he'll close after himself."

Nodding that she understood his message the red head walked over to the storage where many equipment belonged such as sinking toys that made you practice on your diving and others that focused on your floating. Although it was Nagisa that came in often pulling all sorts of toys to make the day more exciting it was always her that made sure everything was in place at the end of every single day.

Picking up items that had fallen out of their place Gou could feel her body heating up. Convinced it was only her tracksuit that kept her warm the young teenager removed her jacket and then her pants, revealing a young slim figured woman in a white shirt and red mini shorts. Knowing Haruka was too much involved with water she didn't mind showing a sight. In fact all the boys seemed more attracted to each other than her.

But the young student still didn't feel comfortable as she still felt hot and placed the back of her hand on her forehead. She wasn't an expect but she knew she was getting a fever. That would explain the runny nose she was having all day. Picking up her clothes and the towels to Haruka, Gou found herself back near the pool and wasn't surprised to see Haruka now doing laps around the pool.

"If I don't get home soon this fever will only get worse. I need to give these towels to Haruka, say goodbye and maybe ask Mom to pick me up or something."Gou contemplated.

Walking by the pool's edge the young student waited for Haruka to stop or at least notice her. Noticing that wasn't happening she picked up goggles she found by her feet and threw at the man's head. With luck it hit and made Haruka stop in his tracks. Gou watched as the young man removed his goggles and shook his hair left to right in a beautiful manner it nearly made her forget she was upset at him for making her wait.

"Haruka!" Gou yelled. "I got some spare towels for you whenever you decide to get out of the water!" Gou explained. After the yell she took a step back, noticing her balance was now getting affected. "Damn, I need to get home now."Taking a glance back at the pool she noticed Haruka was cleaning his goggle by dipping them into the water.

"Thanks." He spoke while focusing on cleaning his goggles.

Nodding back her response the young woman picked up her tracksuit and held them in her arms as Haruka watched her take slow steps towards the stairs. He never really looked at her for very long but he noticed that she never walked that slow unless she injured herself. But that was a rare idea since she was never the swimmer and never remembered her as one. Shoving the idea away Haruka fixed his fringe and prepared to continue his swim until he heard a loud splash at the corner of the pool. He wasn't the smartest teenager around but he knew that Gou had fallen into the pool.

Taking in a breath and a dive, Haruka swam as fast as he could underwater and saw the fainted girl under the water and on the bottom of the floor out cold. Scooping her into his arms he could feel how hot her body was. Making sure, he placed the back of his fingers on her forehead he sighed, "Why didn't you tell us you had a fever?"

Haruka never liked leaving the water early but he couldn't leave Gou suffering fever without proper care. He was antisocial but he wasn't the type to leave a friend in trouble. He placed Gou by the edge of the pool as he climbed up the ladder before holding Gou in his arms once more. He soon placed the fainted woman on the chair he would see his homeroom teacher sitting on under an umbrella from time to time. It didn't take long for him to pick up the towels Gou originally had given to him and reached over for her arm and began to dry her.

Haruka gazed at Gou's smooth skin. It was obvious she had never play any hard core sport in her life and he never saw her as the type of woman that would look after her skin or be interested in beauty at all. She was too busy looking after them and helping her brother to become that cheery and happy boy they both knew very well. But Haruka's thoughts of Rin were interrupted when he felt the arm he was holding starting to shake.

"Kou?" He spoke, "Kou?" He repeated. But all he got was Gou shaking.

The swimmer didn't waste any time and reached for his towel and placed it on top of Gou. But the shaking didn't stop. Putting on a shirt himself an idea came into his mind which made him even quieter than before. He couldn't watch as Gou shook and held his towel tighter and together in hope it would keep her warm. Showing some courage he pushed Gou to the side to make enough space to lay beside her. Laying beside her Haruka held Gou closer to him in hope his warmth would stop her shaking.

And when she did Haru took a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness."

But Haru didn't let go of the sick woman until her breathing return to a normal pace and was no longer heavy. Sitting up the young teen tried to wipe the blush on his face but it wasn't going away any time soon and just tried to ignore what he just did to keep Gou fine. Standing up he placed his hands on his waist in search for Gou's bag.

"A phone, I can call her parents to pick her up or maybe-"

He shook his head at the name and the face of an old friend. He remembered by the stories Gou had told him that the two hardly spoke no matter how much she sent message his way. Rin never replied back and when he did it was always so cold. If he told him her sister was sick and went to school with a fever he would either think it was a joke or shrug it off. Especially coming from him the reaction could be anything.

Seeing the sight of Gou's bag he quickly opened it up with fear of what he could find in a woman's bag. Shrugging any funny ideas out of his mind he pulled out the woman's pink cell phone. It slipped out his grasp at first but he quickly got control of it. With luck the woman didn't have any password and he was quickly logged into her contacts. Pressing on the down arrow key he came across Rin's name. He stopped as he gazed on Gou's older brother's name but soon kept on scrolling down.

"He doesn't care about Kou, I can just tell." Haruka muttered to himself.

As Haruka tried to find contacts that could take Gou home safely and nurse her back to good health he suddenly felt presence by his side. A warm and fragile hand was place on his shoulder before feeling Gou's weak body tumble on him. Haruka watched as she leaned on him while another hand on his towel over her. Her ruby eyes were stuck on the contact list on her phone.

"Rin never answers me calls. There is no use calling him." Gou's voice was weak and dry.

"I know." Haruka spoke in his usual bland tone. He continued to scroll down a list of names. "And your parents?"

Gou shook her head. "Only my mother is around but she is still at work around this time." Her body leaned on Haruka's a little more. Her body started to heat up more. "I'll be fine home by myself."

"No." Haruka spoke boldly. "I can't leave up home sick by yourself," Gou could feel her friend help her onto her feet. "I'll take you to my place."

Gou's face lit up bright red, "But what about the students? They might think funny stuff and-"

Haruka flicked his fringe away from his eyes, "They can think what they want. I don't honestly care. We need our manager in top shape by the finals."

After hearing his words, the young teen smiled, "I guess you're right."

The woman felt her body feeling light and her balance as she took a few steps back and forward before Haruka deciding to hold her still by placing his hands on her shoulder. He rolled his eyes and guided her back on her seat as he threw her tracksuit towards her. With luck Gou caught it with ease as she couldn't help but chuckle as Haruka refused to look at her as she got change even she wore a shirt and mini shorts underneath her tracksuit.

"Alright, I think I can manage." Gou spoke confidently as she pushed herself off the chair only to fall back on it. "Damn."

"Hey Kou," Looking skyward she saw Haruka had approached her. "If you're that stubborn I could hold your hand as we walk down the stairs."

"I'm not that fragile." Gou glared at the swimmer with a flustered face. "I just got a little fever. I can walk on my own." Gou proved her point by pushing herself off the chair and stood up straight with her hands on her hips. Everything was going right until after a few steps after walking Gou fell face first onto the concrete. Gou pouted.

"Whatever." Haruka rolled his eyes as he picked up the fragile girl and tossed her over his shoulder. He ignore the screams of Gou's fury as she refused to be carried by him to his place as he picked up his and Gou's bag and held them in his other hand.

The first year student pouted and crossed her arms at the idea of being so weak and fragile. It felt like Haruka was making fun of her because she was a woman who happened to be sick. She didn't speak a word as they made their way down the stairs and neither did Haruka, she didn't expect him to anyway.

But she did like that he was willing to look after her which seemed so out of character of him since he had such a small group and friends and was never known as a party person. That was always Nagisa's job. Soon she could see Haruka and her leaving the school grounds as the school got smaller and smaller in sight. Her fever got to her and she closed her eyes for some brief rest but that wasn't the case. As soon Haruka reached his home and patted Gou to tell they were home, she had fallen asleep on him.

"Great." He muttered.

Opening the door by sliding it one direction with his right foot he lazily dropped his and Gou's bag by the door. Making his way to the spare bedroom his placed the sick girl on her back and roughly covered her with blankets. Leaning over her body he removed her hair tie and her her long ruby hair scatter over the pillow. He was surprised she was so sound asleep as they travelled from school to his place. Taking a last glance on the sick woman Haruka made his way downstairs.

Normally he would strip down into his swimsuit and stay in the bathtub for hours but having a sick woman sleeping the spare room gave him a reason to skip tonight's daily dunking. Wrapping an apron tightly around him he pulled the fridge door open and most of the food was macarel and pineapple with the occasional drink or two.

"Can sick people still eat fish?" Haruka questioned. Hanging his head he knew that wasn't going to make Gou feel the slightest better. Reaching into his pockets he pulled out his wallet and looked for some notes and saw he had none.

So he ended up frying macarel and pineapple for the sick woman in the end and with luck made tea for her after finding tea bags in the cupboards around.

Reaching out for plates and a tray to serve to the sick woman he heard soft footsteps fill the hallway. Haru had no doubt it was the sick woman Gou herself, persistent that she was just fine. After serving the meals to their plates she could see Gou standing by the door of the kitchen. She shuddered seeing the meal Haruka had made for her.

"I'm flatter Haruka but surly you don't eat that all the time."

Haruka's face had no reaction. It was made clear that Haru only ate fish.

Placing the meal on her side of the table the man looked back at the sick girl, "I was going to bring this upstairs but you seem okay now." He sat himself down.

"I'm feeling alright to walk around and stuff, you shouldn't have to worry about me too much now." The manager explained. "But I don't think there is any need for me to stay the night."

Haruka pointed to the window outside with his chopsticks which made Gou looked outside. She jumped in the spot to see how dark it had become so quickly. Haruka returned to his meal, "And plus, I don't think there are any more buses around this time to take you home."

"You're doing this on purpose!" Gou snapped her anger at her long time friend.

"What for?" Haruka took another bite into his fish. His attention was on his food rather than the person he was talking to. ""I have no interest in you whatsoever."

"Then why did you take me home and offered to look after me!?" Gou crossed her arms, waiting for an answer.

"Because I couldn't let you walk home in such a condition." Haruka spoke as he kept on eating. "You couldn't even barely stand up."

"And so you do care." Gou bickered.

Haruka finally looked up at the woman as he placed the fish into his mouth. "Just eat."

She pushed the chair back and sat herself in as she gazed at her meal. She wanted to be thankful but at the same time, not. But Haru had taken her into his care and she had no right to complain. Placing the meal into her mouth Gou was surprised by the taste, it tasted just fine.

"It's not so bad if you know how to cook it."

Gou looked up and saw Haruka was too busy eating his meal to look up at her. "I guess."

Dinner quickly was over with a very little conversation to make the night far to remember. Placing the dishes into the sink Gou felt she at least had to wash the dishes for Haru after all he had done for her. Turning the tap one she felt and watched the water running down the plates and over the fingers. The running of the tap water was the only sound that could be heard in the empty house Haruka lived in.

It only made Gou wonder if Haruka did have anyone else living here with him, his mother, brother, siblings? She knew well his grandmother was no longer around by the alter he had for her in her honor. But she didn't know Haruka well enough to ask such personal question as she watched the bubbles slip off the plate and down the drain.

"Haruka," Gou began. "Thank you for looking after me."

"Like I said earlier, I was left with no choice." Haruka slipped his dish into the sink filled with hot water.

"You sound just as cold as Rin just now." Gou's voice dropped to a whisper. "Do I mean nothing to everyone around me?"

Haruka looked around as he held his arm tightly. He avoided Gou's gaze of sadness as he took in a minute to see that he did just then sound as cold as Rin. If he had said those words years ago he wouldn't believe it. The Rin they both knew was happy and was the life of the group. Now he was cold and antisocial. Haruka never knew they could be so alike.

"You don't mean nothing Gou. You're something." This caused Gou to look up at the silent man. "If you never joined the club, us, wouldn't be around. You came just in time when the club needed you at most. Rin might not see you useful but to the rest of us you mean a lot. You're our manager and coach. If you didn't suggest your ideas like training on those deserted islands I don't think we could be in such shape we are now."

Gou's face lit up with embarrassment that tears were starting to be seen in her eyes. Wiping them away from Haru's sight Gou smiled warmly. "I never thought I would hear those words from you Haruka Nanase." Gou teased.

The young man gave off a warm smile and patted Gou's head. "Neither did I Kou Matsuoka."

What Haruka spoke was indeed true. Never in his wildest dream did he ever expect Gou to play such a big part in his life. He patted her head once more as he watched her place the gloves back on and return back to washing. He stood by her side and helped the woman to finish up clearing all the dishes.

"Just make sure you won't stay up all night. We need our manager. I also have some medicine in the cupboards for you to take." Haruka spoke as he gazed at the sink filled with hot water before turning towards Gou. She nodded her response as she returned in finishing the dishes.

He made sure she wasn't going to look back as he smiled warmly at her.

Maybe he did care for her after all.

A/N:

Just want to let you know I've written this just when episode 6 aired so by the time the other six are released don't compare those future episodes to these ones. Anyway I think I might write a few more HaruGou cause their so perfect. I mean I use to ship MakoGou but episode 6 killed that ship for me. (I so think Makoto is so gay for Haruka.)

Anyway my first Free! fanfic and I'm so sorry if Haru is acting a little too social to Gou but I thought that maybe their friendship since they were kids would somehow make Haru more talkative towards her. Anyway I'm still looking forward to the next episodes and perhapes more character development between the two of them. I want to see that fun loving Rin I saw in the PV. :D

~midnight