Right Under Your Nose

"It must be hard having such a cute sister."

Matsuoka, slouched stylishly beside her, snorted and stuffed his hands in his pockets, "She's alright."

Chigusa frowned as she glanced out over the Samezuka swim complex. There were muscular guys crawling over every inch of the place. She knew Gou was in heaven but there was at least one person who wasn't. "I mean, if she were my sister I don't think I'd be able to stand for it."

"Stand for what?" Matsuoka's eyes narrowed at her.

Chigusa's eyes widened as she stared up at him, "Haven't you noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

Chigusa eyed him for a long moment, searching his face as his eyebrows drew closer together. He looked a little dangerous, but Chigusa was used to Gou giving her an even scarier look so she just waved it off. She rocked back on her heels, "Gou-chan is hard-working and kind, plus she's really cute. Guys always go for girls like that."

Matsuoka turned his head to her fully, his eyebrow raised high and jumping erratically.

She looked over to where Gou was talking with the rest of the Iwatobi team, "And she spends so much time with the swim club, I guess it was really inevitable."

"If you're talking about Mikoshiba," Matsuoka growled, "I'll set that bastard straight right now."

"Mikoshiba? I wasn't talking about –" She clamped her mouth shut.

Matsuoka whirled on her, his red eyes burning with an unholy fire. He grabbed her arm and dragged her off to the side, "Who are you talking about? Is it Haru? If it's Haru, I'll kill him."

Chigusa glanced down at where he held her arm, "Well, aren't they all a little in love with her?"

"What?" Matsuoka jumped like he had been shocked and let go of her arm.

"You haven't seen it? Well Mikoshiba-san is very obvious with his attentions but Hazuki-kun is pretty blatant too. He's always teasing her like a grade school-er with a crush."

They both glanced over to where the blond in question danced out of the way of a swing from Gou's clipboard. Chigusa and Matsuoka were too far to hear what was being said over the other sounds of the Samezuka practice. Hazuki's face glowed with laughter as he dodged another blow and pulled the clipboard out of Gou's hand. Gou glared at him, arms akimbo as he held her papers out of her reach.

Chigusa noticed Matsuoka starting to move forward. "Then of course there's Ryugazaki-kun," she said, "he's always so attentive and listens to nearly everything she says and I've seen him passionately leap to her defense in school, like some knight."

At that moment Ryugazaki approached Gou and Hazuki, taking hold of the clipboard. The two boys tugged it back and forth until Tachibana pulled it from both of their hands. He sighed and handed it back to Gou with a smile that she returned instantly.

"Ah, and of course Tachibana-san always takes care of Gou-chan," Chigusa smiled delicately, "I mean, I know he's kind to everyone but you can tell he's especially considerate with her."

Clipboard in hand, Gou headed over towards the pool. She pinched Hazuki as she walked past him and she paused to thank Ryugazaki before she jogged over to where Nanase stood. He kept his eyes trained on her as she spoke, his lips turned down in his usual frown. Gou finished and he gave her a little nod. She turned away and jogged back over to the others. Nanase turned his head to watch her go, his lips curling up in a smile.

"And even I know Nanase-san doesn't smile like that often," Chigusa laid a hand against her chin. Something else caught her eye, "Oh, and Nitori-kun, too? Does he laugh so freely with everyone?"

The gray haired boy stood close to Gou and the two giggled and grinned at each other.

Chigusa watched them as Matsuoka practically vibrated beside her. She glanced at the older boy out of the corner of her eye, "Like I said, if it were me, I'd be more cautious with my super cute little sister before someone snatched her out from under my nose." She laid a finger against her nose and gave him a pointed look.

To his credit Matsuoka didn't take long before he leaped into action, shouting Gou's name across the pool complex. He grabbed Gou's arm and hissed something to her. He pointed over to Chigusa and Gou's eyes widened before she came jogging over. Behind her, Matsuoka turned to glare at any male who dared make eye contact.

"Ah, Hana-chan, I'm sorry," Gou grabbed Chigusa's hands and gave her a small smile, "My brother told me you were lonely over here by your self."

"It was fine," Chigusa shrugged, tangling their fingers, "I know you have lots of work to do as the swim club's manager." She used their joined hands to tug Gou closer, leaning their heads together and looking at the clipboard. "Why don't you explain all this gibberish to me?"

Gou nodded and grinned. She pointed out various things on her training schedule, tucking herself closer to Chigusa's side at the other girl's silent nudging. Chigusa took a moment to glance up at where Matsuoka was growling something at Nanase. She grinned. He really did need to be careful. Gou was too cute for someone not to snatch her right out from under his nose.