Yup, another SeiMako/Seikoto fic. :)

I'd just like to thank the people who faved and reviewed my other one: Precocious Crush. You guys are awesome! :D

It was mentioned that Makoto's worst subjects were English and Art, but it never mentions what Seijuurou's favourite/worst subjects are, but I always got the impression that Samezuka was one of those more "up-there, modernized, prestigious" schools, to be honest (an indoor pool, a flashier school uniform, etc.). XD probably just me, though. Also, Rin's favourite subjects were Math and English while his worst was Old Japanese - I don't know why, but I was imagining a nerdy Rin now with the poindexter glasses, tucked in shirt and everything. XD (I may or may not draw it some time in future). This story takes place post-episode 12.

WARNING: Also contains a Guy x Gou (you'll find out who it is) and an overprotective Rin. XD

Key (because it'll seem a bit confusing at some points):
'Example...' - Normal
'Example...' - thoughts
'Example...' - English

"Good morning, my name is…"

"What's that? Speak up! You can speak louder than that!" the tanned redhead drawled as he leaned back on the chair he was seated on. However, his friendly grin showed a more encouraging tone, as did his golden eyes, "Come on, it's a presentation! You gotta be confident! If you're confident, people will believe in what you're saying!"

The green-eyed boy standing opposite him, jolted slightly from the sudden bark that interrupted his speech, before giving a sheepish smile as a light red tinted his cheeks. He bowed his head, "Ah…sorry, Mikoshiba-san but, it's just…English was never my best subject…"

To this, the older student gave bark-like laughter at the response, "Well, that's the point of me being here, wasn't it? 'Cause you needed some help with English," he then leaned his head forward a little as he added, "And, no need to be so formal. Just call me Seijuurou; we've known each other for quite a while now with all the joint-practicing, Mako-chan."

To that, the younger student, Makoto, felt his face catch even more heat at how casually the senior student was speaking to him, and how informally he wanted to address him. But because Seijuurou was a rather stubborn guy despite the smiling and enthusiasm, Makoto obliged with his wish, "O-okay, Seijuurou-san."

English was one of the worst subjects for Makoto. The other one being art, but at least art was a subject that wasn't compulsory to his final grade.

Sadly, that wasn't so for English.

Makoto was decent in Math and his sciences were quite fair, too (though Rei was the one who excelled excellently at both here, and had actually helped him a couple of times despite being a year younger than him). His History wasn't so bad, either – some of the things were quite interesting, despite the fact that he sometimes got confused with the dates, and they tended to be the hardest things to remember. The green-eyed boy however found Literature as his best subject – it was captivating and it made him tend to wonder and think about the interpretation of things when he read things and was asked about the perspective of certain areas, as well as the symbolism or any hidden meanings that were contained within the piece.

He wished that he could enjoy reading English as much as he enjoyed reading the pieces he was assigned in Literature.

With one of the final English exams being a presentation right in front of the whole English class, poor Makoto felt himself growing faint as his face paled. At least writing and reading English were similar (as of reading and writing Japanese), and he could scribble things down on the corner of the test paper and have some time to think, but speaking it out loud?

He was not only timed with the speech being four to five minutes, but going either over or under the limit would be a five percent penalty on his mark.

Poor Makoto tried practicing in front of his friends so that maybe just hopefully someone could help him and pick up on any mistakes he's done. Nagisa began speaking in broken English and he was clearly replacing that foreign letter "L" with the typical "R" while Rei rolled his eyes, and was going through a senior textbook to actually try and assist Makoto. Though, despite Rei understanding the principles of the alphabet and punctuation, there were other points such as prepositions and conjunctions that tended to confuse him. However, in the end, Rei, the one who was ever seeking knowledge, became interested with the language, and so began enthusiastically reading the book to himself while Makoto tried practicing parts of his speech again, but this time to Haruka and Gou.

Haruka's face looked as blank as always, and honestly, at this point, Makoto felt that the blue-eyed swimmer's mind was stuck on the pool and the joint practice that they were going to have with Samezuka that afternoon rather than the upcoming English speech presentation that counted for forty percent of their final English mark, which was thirty-five percent of the final grade overall.

However, when he finished his speech, Haruka simply shrugged a shoulder and said simply, "You know English isn't my best subject, either…I haven't even started with mine yet."

Gou was quite intrigued with English herself and only knew a few fundamental sentences such as what was used for typical introductions, so she corrected him on one or two sentences. Makoto was rather intrigued to see that she actually was enamoured with foreign languages (she was particularly interested in Korean and French), but she sadly apologized that she didn't know as much English as she did with Korean or the little words and broken phrases of French she picked up on from online surfing.

"Wait, you can ask onii-chan!" she spoke up. "English is one of his best subjects!"

Of course Rin would be acing that subject; he went overseas to Australia after all – that country had English as its most dominant language, and even then, from a young age, Rin seemed to be intrigued with English and was keen on learning it. Then again, if he was to be a professional swimmer, it would be no surprise for Rin to be accomplished in English; if he wasn't, how was he going to communicate once he succeeded and went abroad?

However, nowadays Rin himself didn't seem so sure on whether he still wanted to be an Olympic swimmer or not, but he definitely was keen on continuing with English. For despite all of that, he still was exceptional at the language, and actually enjoyed what the land of Australia was like when he stayed there, and what the pieces of that language contained.

When the joint practice came, Makoto and Haruka were ready to ask Rin for his help on the subject, but were shocked to see that Rin seemed busy himself as he was reading something on what appeared to be a large booklet. He had a pen perched on his ear while he scribbled with a pencil, and was speaking to himself a number of times while young Aiichirou looked both bewildered and awed; his eyes sparkling in admiration towards his fuchsia-haired senpai as he quietly watched.

Funny enough, Rin didn't seem to mind that the silver-haired boy was staring at him the whole time, and right by his side, too.

It then took Makoto and Haruka a while before they both realized that what Rin was mumbling aloud, was English.

Looking to Gou for an explanation since it seemed that Rin was too deep in thought, that just interrupting him may equal certain death to whoever dared to break his though processing, the girl then remembered what was going on as he had texted her that he would still be attending swimming practice, but he'd also be busy with something really important.

"I almost forgot that onii-chan was studying for a TOEFL test, too."

"Toe fu-?" Nagisa asked curiously, trying to imitate Gou's accent when she spoke what sounded like a more foreign-sounding word.

"It's a test for students to apply into a university overseas, so they can become international students," responded Rei as he smartly adjusted his glasses. "Preferable places of application include America, England, France and Australia."

"No way!" Nagisa exclaimed, now also quite awed. "Wow…"

Seeing how focused and determined Rin looked while he was studying, neither Makoto nor Haruka had the heart to interrupt him. Haruka watched his magenta-haired friend a little bit before noting with a fond glimmer in his cerulean eyes, "Well…I'm glad that he wasn't always upset there in Australia…"

That was when the voice of the Samezuka captain, Seijuurou Mikoshiba, had shouted, "Okay! Pool now! Matsuoka! Put the paper down and practice; I know it's important, but you've got plenty of time before that test comes up!"

Sadly, Rin was snapped from his thoughts, and from how his crimson eyes were glimmering, it seemed like he was onto something until his captain decided to interrupt him, to which he actually snapped the pencil that was in his grip as he snarled from getting disturbed. "Damn it, Mikoshiba!" he screamed angrily. "You broke my thoughts! Now I have to read that passage all over again! I was on a roll!"

Nonetheless, Rin did look somewhat relieved in diving into the pool and taking a break, though.

But still, Makoto didn't want to ask Rin for his help. For one thing, he didn't want to overwork the poor guy; it looked like Rin was already busy enough for something that was very important to him, and could also help determine his career and future – the last thing Makoto wanted was for Rin to fail his exam: it would just…crush the poor guy. Secondly, Rin would get exhausted and overworked – again, the olive-haired swimmer definitely didn't want to waste his friend's time and again, be a cause for him to fail such an important test.

And finally, just from looking down at the remains of the broken pencil that Rin crushed, Makoto didn't want his old friend's wrath reigning down on him, either.

It was during that time once during practice, when Makoto had finished his laps of backstroke, he huffed a little and lay on his back to relax a bit, before coming out. By that time, Aiichirou seemed worried about something. Because he didn't like it when others worried around him, Makoto approached him, and kindly asked, "Nitori-san, is there something wrong?"

The poor boy jumped slightly, before scratching his head while looking a bit sheepish. But after a moment of thought, he spoke up in a rather soft voice, "I…I was just wondering…why were you looking at Rin-senpai a lot?"

Makoto blinked; unsure of what the grey-haired boy was implying, "Well…Rin was always the best at English, and I have a speech coming up for that subject. It's worth a lot for my English mark, as well as for my final grade, and I just wondered if he could help. Of course," turning his head around to see that Rin was quoting some English phrases, and to which Nagisa, Rei and Gou were staring at him in wonder as well and asking him to translate it so they could understand while Haruka seemed to be mentally taking notes of what Rin was saying, Makoto continued, "He's busy with his own thing, so I don't want to intrude…"

"Do you just need an English tutor, Tachibana-senpai?"

The green-eyed swimmer nodded, "Yes. Anybody who knows English well, I'd be happy if they could help me." Seeing Aiichirou fidget a little in his spot, Makoto blinked before asking hopefully, "Do you know someone who could tutor me, Aiichirou-san?" seeing him nod slowly, Makoto immediately questioned excitedly, "Who?! Can you tell me who it is?! Please?" he gave a nervous chuckle upon how desperate he must've seemed, and not wanting to draw the attention on him and the poor, grey-haired boy before him.

Though Aiichirou looked rather stunned at first with Makoto's previous conduct, there was a slight flash of amusement that passed away as quickly as it came, so luckily the older student didn't see it. He then nodded with a little smile on his face as he responded.

"Mikoshiba-senpai."

And that was how Seijuurou and Makoto ended up together in the former's house as he tried to help him with his English presentation.

Honestly, Makoto was surprised when he heard that the Samezuka captain was actually an ace himself when it came to his grades, with English being one of his subjects. He had rather sharp-looking golden eyes, and his red hair was slicked a bit more backwards in a sort of phoenix style, thus showing his forehead more. He was tall and quite brawny; even taller than Makoto himself and he was already considered a giant by some people. With his much sharper features, barking voice and far too informal and casual demeanour, he seemed like the type of person to really not care about grades.

When that thought came to his mind, Makoto immediately berated himself for thinking such a thing; how mean of him. Just because Seijuurou looked like a thug, didn't mean that he was one.

Admittedly, Makoto found himself quite shy when Aiichirou encouraged him to ask Seijuurou to tutor him in English. However, for some strange reason, the olive-haired student found that he needed the younger, silver-haired boy to manually try and give him a push towards the redheaded captain. During that time, Seijuurou was speaking in a rather no-nonsense voice with a serious expression etched onto his usually smiling face.

However, the look on all the Samezuka swimmers told Makoto that they were listening to him closely – hanging onto his every word. Even Rin, though he looked quite bored, was still gazing straight at the tanned swimmer at least paying some of his attention.

"Now, work as hard as you can! If you can, go beyond your limit but don't try and shove it; even a tiny bit is good enough! Why? Because it shows progress! And I don't want any of you trying to double your limit or shoving – Iwatobi shouldn't have to put off with your dead weight of a body when your legs fall off and your face and butt hit the floor." Hearing the snickers, Makoto couldn't help but give a soft chuckle himself upon hearing that as well, but he covered his mouth to hide it so as not to be heard. Seijuurou's serious expression then stretched into a smug and wide grin upon seeing that his team now looked ready to work hard as always. "Got it?!"

"Yes, Seijuurou-buchou!"

Buchou…that's how much respect and admiration the swimmers of Samezuka had for their captain. Makoto couldn't help but wonder what it was like to be addressed that way, and began to wonder if he could ever be as good a captain as the redheaded senior…he certainly hoped that he could be as inspirational and motivating as Seijuurou was.

Now that he thought about it, Seijuurou's title was quite deserving, too. Though he seemed kind and casual outside, near the pool, he was very strict and pushed his team to go just a bit beyond the limit for improvement. But even then, the redhead knew that they all had limits, so to him, just going a bit beyond their normal boundaries was enough – he cared about their well-being and condition more than results.

But even then Seijuurou himself had rationalized that from having a healthy condition and feeling quite well in spirits was part of what constituted to a good result. "After all," he told Makoto on the next tutoring lesson with his golden hues fond. "If you don't feel up for it, and you're a grey day with stormy weather, you wouldn't feel that motivated to do well, either, would you?"

Makoto saw a good point to that. And for that reason, whenever Iwatobi had their own swimming lessons, the green-eyed boy was sure to watch out for his teammates even more carefully and attentively just in case something was amiss.

Seijuurou's words about the weather were what was called an analogy.

Makoto blanched upon hearing that word; it sounded quite difficult, and to be honest, he himself wasn't even sure when the teacher was talking about it. He could make out several words like "fish out of water" and "you are not", but he was confused upon it. Then the teacher spouted more, and poor Makoto lost himself in the sea of funny letters that were on the board.

Luckily, sensing his discomfort and confusion, Seijuurou continued, "I quite like them; they're great for saying stuff in a fun way."

"R-really?"

"Hell yeah! An analogy is like comparing a situation to something else. You get me?" still seeing the unsure expression, Seijuurou continued, "Like for example: when you're in a situation you really don't like, people would say that you're a fish out of water since if you do that to a fish – like literally getting it out of water, you know what happens, right?" He then leaned back, "Another good one is well…the team is a family. The teammates are like the members of the family, and the pool, field or wherever you play your sport on or practice at is your house since you clean and look after it. You and I are the captains, so that makes us the heads of our respective houses; and so, we have the job of looking after our families."

Makoto's eyes widened in realization and understanding; an analogy really wasn't as bad as it was.

Out of all the English analogies, Seijuurou had one that was his favourite. When asked what it was, the redheaded senior gave a chuckle before responding, "Well, here it is. Life's like a box of chocolates."

Makoto stared at him; the only words he could make out from that were "like" and "chocolates". "What did you say?" he asked.

To this, Seijuurou simply laughed as he then leaned over and patted Makoto's shoulder, "You'll just have to work hard to find out!"

This warranted a pout from the younger student. With the way his bottom lip jutted out, and how his grass green eyes were a bit disappointed and somewhat pleading, Seijuurou couldn't help but stare.

That expression was…rather cute…

Shaking his head, he continued to do what he was there to do. Though he tried to ignore that burning feeling that he felt settle down on his ears.

But even then, during the extra lessons that Makoto had with the tanned Samezuka captain, he found that he was learning much better with him teaching. He understood how certain rules of the English language worked, it made far more sense than before, and he even had his vocabulary widened out a bit more when Seijuurou would sometimes spout some phrase or word that he learned or found that peaked his interest.

Makoto also found that he could ask Seijuurou anything – seriously, though the green-eyed boy felt rather stupid with some of his questions (such as the difference between using "in" and "on"), the redheaded senior never laughed at his face like how the Iwatobi captain initially expected. Instead, Seijuurou just gave a warm grin before answering it first in a typical manner, then with English, then giving some examples before asking him if he understood now.

There was a practice writing and reading exam that had been done in English class, and during the test, Makoto felt nervous twinges in his stomach, however he also felt that he was ready to take it on with Seijuurou's teachings in tow, and so, wrote while making sure to think carefully, and calm his pace.

"Don't rush, either," he remembered Seijuurou telling him when Makoto was practicing his sentences on paper. "You'll just mix your words up, or possibly leave one out, and so it'll sound weird when you read it. Just take a deep breath, relax, and take your time. If there's a question you can't do, just tell it fuck it, and move on to the next one until you find something you can answer. Then, once you finish answering them, just try your best to fill it up; don't ever leave it blank because who knows? Maybe you got something that costs even at least a mark or two, and the universe decides to just give you a freebie."

When the practice test paper came back, Makoto was happy to see that he had passed with a really good mark. Not the top of his class or perfect, but it was still worthy of note and something to be proud of (even if it counted as only two percent for the final English mark). Even the teacher was satisfied with it. "Good work, Tachibana," he had said with an acknowledging nod. "Keep it up, and you'll have no problem in passing my subject."

When he shared the good news to Seijuurou upon seeing him again that night (as always, in the redhead's house), the Samezuka captain's face broke out into a huge beam upon seeing the delighted expression on the other captain's face. "Yes!" Seijuurou pumped a fist in the air in triumph. "See? Knew you could do it!"

"But I couldn't have done it without you," Makoto piped up, as he smiled sincerely. "Thank you so much, Seijuurou-san…you're an amazing teacher."

Seijuurou gave a sheepish chortle as he rubbed the back of his neck in a similar manner, "Ah, please…you did things yourself! You could've chose to ignore me and tell me to get lost or something, but nah – you chose to try, and that's what matters. So yeah, I'm proud of you Mako-chan. And quit using –san, either; there's really no need to be so formal!"

"A-ah, okay," Makoto gave a small chuckle as he nodded. "Very well, then, Seijuurou-senpai."

During that very lesson of English that night, though, Makoto couldn't help but gaze more closely at his tutor this time. It was then, that he had a better look at him, and by that, he meant a really better look.

Seijuurou was just a little taller than Makoto himself by a few centimetres, but his posture and the way he held his head high in the air with that look of confidence, also seemed to make him appear taller, stronger and rather…regal. His skin appeared quite smooth, and bronze, while his body was very well-defined and built with broadened shoulders, chiselled arms, and a sturdy torso – the result of what laborious and dedicated physical activity does to you. Whenever he was near the pool and off to swim, he didn't wear much, and that was even amongst the swimmers, as he preferred speedos. Makoto himself flushed at the idea of wearing barely anything, but Seijuurou didn't seem afraid of wearing less clothing, which signified that he didn't care what people thought of how he looked, as well as rightfully having a good amount of self-confidence with his body.

His face however, Makoto found himself peering at the most, and sinking in every detail as his eyes trailed around.

The Samezuka captain had a slightly longer face than Makoto with prominent cheek bones and sharper points, but whenever he smiled, everything seemed to become brighter, and his own face softened upon the positive expression. His eyes were honey-gold in colour, and shone with warmth and honesty when left unbothered, but whenever it came for something to work for (swimming and training his team in particular), those orbs would blaze with a flame of determination; the fire dancing around, causing his eyes to glow and glitter. His hair was a flaming red and a little spiky at some points, but slicked back as well in a rather cool style that just suited him.

When did he start looking like this?

"You okay, Mako-chan?"

"Huh?" Makoto blinked, but he almost froze when he realized what he was doing. He immediately waved his hands in front of him, "Yeah, yes! I'm okay! Don't worry, I'm okay! I was just…thinking! Thinking to myself, that's all!"

'He's a really shitty liar,' Seijuurou thought to himself. "Okay, then…well, how about working on some more of those writing exercises, and once you're done, I'll take a look at 'em. Okay?" seeing Makoto nod wordlessly, but looking rather tight-lipped and having found interest with the floor, he slid the sheet of paper over to the olive-haired boy, and let him work a bit as he went off to grab a soda for the both of them from the fridge. 'The hell was that about?' that weak response that he got back made him arch an eyebrow as he wondered as to what his younger companion was thinking about, but after some wondering, Seijuurou decided not to dwell on it too much, or pressure him for it, either.

Makoto, despite his massive size, and built figure, was actually pretty shy and gentle. Though pretty casual and on friendly terms, Seijuurou wondered if Makoto was always like that, or if something caused him to be more subdued and meek.

Good God…nobody better be bullying him or something…

Just at that thought, Seijuurou's fist tightened, and he almost accidentally crushed the soda can in his grip with ease. Luckily, he realized what he was doing on time, and for that, he placed the soda can back in the fridge and picked another one out.

If someone dared to pick on or bully someone he cared about…well, let's just say that they'll most likely need a lot of money for a crap load of plastic surgeries.

Before going upstairs, Seijuurou remembered hearing once from the Iwatobi swim team while they were having their own discussion, that Makoto loved chocolate. The redhead wasn't sure how a talk about swimming strategies could even form into one of what your favourite food was, but somehow, the small team managed to do it, and they were talking about it for a good ten minutes or so before Gou blew her whistle in irritation at them for beginning to lose focus.

While Seijuurou was highly amused at what he was listening to, he was trying to hear what Gou's favourite food was, until he heard Nagisa exclaim that he loved sweets. To this, the golden-eyed senior couldn't help the smile that formed on his face upon hearing the list of sweets that the blonde was motoring away.

It was something that Seijuurou wasn't afraid to admit, but he had not a sweet tooth, but rather a whole set of sweet teeth that were lined around the gums in his mouth. Of all the sweets, the redhead's favourite was chocolate – particularly of the milky or white variety (the dark ones tended to be a bit too bitter for him at times). He then heard Makoto speak out with a small smile that his favourite foods were curry and chocolate, to which Seijuurou arched an eyebrow, and smile a bit more upon hearing.

So for that, Seijuurou took out some chocolate that he made sure to hide carefully in the pantry (so his glutton of a big sister wouldn't chomp on them), and brought them upstairs to his room where he and Makoto were residing.

Before coming inside, he saw that his door was open by a crack, but just enough so he could observe the younger student from where he was sitting.

He wasn't sure what compelled him to watch him a bit before coming inside, but Seijuurou stopped for a moment, and squinted his eyes as he peered quietly at Makoto from his spot outside his room.

Makoto was thinking hard to himself as he tapped his chin with his pencil while his face scrunched up into a thoughtful expression before he continued with his writing.

And it was during that time that Seijuurou was able to sink in Makoto's appearance even more.

The olive-haired boy was shorter than he, Seijuurou, was, but it really wasn't by that much. He was quite well-built himself, as his uniform's shirt clung a bit to his biceps as he continued writing. Despite his great height and more toned build, as noted before, he was shy and meek – he wasn't used to being the centre of attention, and he tended to shy away from crowds and was the type to blush when he received a compliment. His eyes were two glimmering, grass green orbs that were serene pools, but upon having a breakthrough, they shone and seemed to sparkle as he continued writing.

While watching, Seijuurou could feel something…bloom from within him.

The more he looked at Makoto, the more he felt something grow hot, as well as electrical currents surging throughout his body, and a slight tingle down his spine upon seeing Makoto finish the work with a sigh of relief.

'Strange…this feels like when I'm around Gou-kun…'

When he chose to come back inside and brought the chocolate, though at first trying to protest, Makoto took it after Seijuurou stubbornly refused to get it back. Upon eating it, Seijuurou wished he wasn't watching.

Those full, pink lips were nibbling and getting smudged by the sweet treat as the green-eyed student looked quite content.

And it caused the redheaded captain to flush furiously for staring so much at him.

Makoto was shocked to see Seijuurou rather shaky so suddenly, and so unsurprisingly he was concerned for his sudden change of demeanour, but upon the senior's insistence that he was fine, the olive-haired boy retreated back and complied with his order to get back to work, though still worried.

Once Makoto had gone home, it was then that the captain of Samezuka lay in his bed that night and began to think more to himself quite deeply and intensely as he couldn't get the captain of Iwatobi out of his mind so suddenly.

'Then again…I've been thinking about Mako-chan so much lately. Even more than Gou-kun now…I wonder…'

The more that they met each other for the extra English lessons, the more progressively Makoto began to feel strange.

Whenever he thought of Seijuurou, butterflies would start to flutter around in his stomach, and a small yet fond smile would break out onto his face.

Whenever he saw Seijuurou, his face would start to tinge slightly with a little hint of cherry red, while the fluttering butterflies in his belly changed to backflips and somersaults. His heart also started to pick up in pace just a little bit whenever he saw the redheaded captain launch off the diving block, and his strong, tanned figure made contact with the pool's crystal clear water.

Whenever he spoke to Seijuurou, it was getting harder to look at him as that sunny grin was now directed right at him, and solely him. The Iwatobi captain's face was threatening to catch fire, and the flipping and somersaulting changed to twisting and churning. The pace of his heart would suddenly increase, and his whole mind suddenly dazed over whenever he heard that loud, barking bout of laughter.

Whenever they touched, if it was a pat on the shoulder or an accidental brush, the olive-haired boy's face had exploded in flames, and his heart had stopped momentarily. His breath hitched into his throat, while sparks of electricity would flow from the tips that had made contact with the skin, and surged through his veins until they ended with a pleasant shiver down his spine.

Makoto tried so hard to be discreet about his suddenly uncontrollable feelings, but it seemed as if they were trying to escape from him in an attempt to be made known. However, even then, he tried to squash them back down as he continued to study English some more.

Then again, whenever English came to mind, red hair, golden eyes and tanned skin would flow into Makoto's mind…

…yet, it made him want to work all the harder.

It was during one day of studying and another extra lesson; two months before the presentation, that Seijuurou deemed Makoto ready to practice his speech again.

The first lesson that they ever had, the redheaded captain had asked the green-eyed student to perform it in front of him to see just how much of his help was needed. Once Makoto was done, despite a lot of constructive criticism from Seijuurou, the tanned captain decided that they first brush up on his younger companion's English skills and understanding first before they worked on his ability to stand up and talk to a crowd.

And now, it was time to go on that final aspect.

Seeing him stand in front of him rather rigidly, Seijuurou shook his head as he carefully got up from his tired legs, and came forward. "Hey, don't stand all tense like that!" he then closed in from behind the olive-haired boy and gripped at his shoulders. "You're so firm…loosen up!" he then rolled his fingers around slightly as a means to massage him.

During this time, Makoto gave an inward squeak at what the older student was doing, and, from feeling his face blaze, knew that it was red. His green eyes fluttered slightly to a close as Seijuurou massaged him a bit more to help him relax. When the Samezuka captain's hands gripped and pressed, while his fingers rolled and come inwardly, Makoto began to relax his body, and felt much better than before.

Once finished, Seijuurou plopped himself back to his spot on the floor, when Makoto finally noticed, just before the redheaded captain had seated himself, that he seemed more…tired today.

"Don't worry!" the tanned boy said as he flashed a reassuring smile, though to Makoto it seemed wearier than usual. "I was just needed to help around with some stuff back at Samezuka, that's all!"

"What kind of stuff?" inquired Makoto, obviously concerned.

Here, Seijuurou couldn't help but chuckle; it was rather endearing how Makoto worried for him…but then again, this was Makoto Tachibana he was thinking about; the guy would worry about anyone and everyone – even if they were some crazy nutjob who was walking around drunk with a knife in hand. But anyway, how his jade eyes widened a bit from hearing about Seijuurou's endeavours of what he had to do, it was rather…adorable.

For some strange reason, Makoto was looking more and more adorable and even lovelier to his eyes nowadays…

"You should be resting!" spoke up Makoto. "Please, that sounds like too much!"

However, the Iwatobi captain was met with laughter, though it was somewhat less louder than usual. "Appreciate the concern, Mako-chan, but seriously! There's nothing to worry," with that, the redhead simply stretched his arm before adding. "I got everything under control in my neck of the woods. We're here to worry about you and your thing, so let's get a move on, shall we?"

"Well…" Makoto licked his lips. "At least drink some water or something – you look so tired, Seijuurou-san."

Seeing the concern so evident in the younger boy's eyes and not wanting them there anymore – especially with him as the reason – Seijuurou heaved a sigh as he nodded, "Yeah, yeah, okay…I'll go-"

"No, please," Makoto suddenly came forward and placed his hands on Seijuurou's shoulder and pushed him down to sit on the floor again. "Allow me." Realizing where his hands were, and how strong and firm the redhead's shoulders felt in his grip, the olive-haired swimmer felt the flames start to lick at his face, which caused him to hurriedly move his hands away and leave the room before the golden-eyed senior could even have the chance to protest.

Seijuurou simply blinked, 'Why so jumpy nowadays?'

Makoto had gone downstairs into the white kitchen and poured a glass of water for his tutor while trying to calm himself down. 'Oh God…he must've thought that was so awkward!' the green-eyed student squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, but chose to gain another glass for himself (Seijuurou didn't mind that; he actually encouraged him to make himself at home in his house).

'Seijuurou-senpai…you make me feel so weird nowadays…'

Once the water was guzzled down, Makoto gave a slight pant as he ran a hand through his olive locks before calming himself down again. Then, once feeling composed, he got the full glass for Seijuurou, and made his way back upstairs.

However, coming into the room, he found that his redheaded tutor was actually sleeping.

He was leaning forward, so his head rested on his arms, while some of his scarlet tresses were somewhat drooping in a wearied manner as he snored lightly. When Makoto came a little closer, he found that there was a slight amount of drool seeping out from the Samezuka captain's mouth, too, which to this, the green-eyed swimmer couldn't help but give a soft giggle at.

Seeing Seijuurou in this state made Makoto feel rather guilty, but at the same time, something in his heart swelled when he saw the older student like this. When he went to fetch the blanket off of the tanned swimmer's bed to wrap it around him, it was then that the olive-haired boy noticed what appeared to be a little whiteboard hanging on the wall with important dates and events written in red letter.

Quite close, Makoto was able to skim through the red writing, and made out some of them. A lot of them, he noticed, were actually dates for assessments and exams, while a few were of birthdays and other kinds of events such as fundraising and being one of the MC's for what appeared to be a talent competition. At first, Makoto was shocked to see that there were so many dates for projects and such, but it was then that one date caught the green-eyed boy's eyes.

'Graduation day. I forgot; he's in his final year – he's almost ready to leave…'

A sudden pang twinged at his heart at the thought of Seijuurou no longer being there to the joint practices next year. Shaking his head, the Iwatobi captain came closer to his redheaded tutor with the blanket in tow, and began wrapping it around his shoulders. While doing so, Makoto's gaze was kept solely on him, and only him.

'It won't be the same without Seijuurou-senpai…'

Makoto wondered who would lead Samezuka's swim team next. He wasn't sure, maybe Rin since he was so devoted to swimming himself, but what the green-eyed boy did know was that it just wouldn't feel right without Seijuurou. He was a brilliant captain, and showed great leadership abilities, too. Plus, he was able to keep his team in line, and his leadership had guided them well. Without the redheaded senior, Makoto felt that the Samezuka swim team may just as well be lost and wandering like a sheep without a shepherd.

'Or maybe…it's just me that feels that way,' he thought to himself as he sat beside Seijuurou, wondering whether he should wake him up or not.

Again, he found himself staring more and more at the older captain's face, and while doing so, he found that there was a pain in his chest once he remembered that little fact that Seijuurou didn't have much time in high school left. And then the crawling guilt clawed in Makoto's stomach at recalling all those red lettered assignments and projects that were on that whiteboard.

Was he wasting his time?

Makoto clasped his hands into his lap and looked down for a moment. Looking back up again, his eyes travelled to Seijuurou's face upon seeing him snore a bit more. People snored because they worked hard, that was what the olive-haired boy was told a few times before when he heard his father snoring at home. Usually, the harder they worked, the louder and deeper they snored.

Seijuurou's snoring was becoming louder and a bit more drawn out; showing he was in deep slumber.

'He works so hard, and he trains his team really well,' Makoto thought to himself as he suddenly leaned a little closer. 'I've always admired that about you, Seijuurou-senpai…' It was then, upon leaning a bit too close, Makoto could feel his heart pick up speed again, and his breath was caught up in his throat, while his face became a rosy red and burned hotter than ever. But upon catching sight of the redheaded captain's thinner pair of lips, and suddenly wondering how they felt, Makoto then realized why he felt so strange around the golden-eyed senior.

The feelings had dived deeper than friendship: he, Makoto Tachibana, had fallen in love with his tutor and fellow (also rival) swim captain, Seijuurou Mikoshiba.

When had it started? Makoto himself really wasn't so sure, but it seemed like along the way while Seijuurou guided him in his quest to wrestle and tame the English language, his heart was captured by his tanned, golden-eyed mentor.

What was definitely certain right now was that his heart was captured by the redhead sleeping before him.

Still sleeping…

Before he knew what he was doing, Makoto peered down even more at Seijuurou's lips as something suddenly nudged him from inside.

And before he knew, his body reacted on its own; neglecting his mind as he leaned his body just that tiny little bit forward to close the gap between the both of them.

It lasted only for a second.

Seijuurou's lips were a little dry, probably from the weariness of what all the laborious activities that he was doing that day, save for one corner of his bottom lip where the drool was trickling from. Yet still, Makoto's heart soared upon just that little physical bout of contact, and he felt his entire being melt just from that short and simple kiss. Backing away, he was slightly dazed as to what just happened – his head spinning a bit while things also felt warm and tingly.

Hearing the tanned captain groan, the olive-haired boy was snapped out of his spacing, and realized what he had just done.

A mixture of horror and giddiness had settled upon him of what just happened. His mouth was flapping up and down while his grass-green eyes widened, and his hands were starting to wring together, before Seijuurou groaned again.

This time, he was groaning a name.

"Gou-kun…"

Hearing that name, Makoto's heart instantly stopped, then sunk. He bit his bottom lip; of course…Seijuurou wouldn't feel the same way he felt for him. The Samezuka captain had showed far too much interest in the Iwatobi swim team manager, and had even been bold with her a couple of times. Though Seijuurou still interacted with her nowadays, he tended not to bother her that much for her number, email or any personal details (Rin had once pushed Seijuurou off the diving board for getting too close to his baby sister one practice). And even so, Seijuurou was only here to help him; not to date him or anything. So really, he should just stop and give up before he began to hope for far too—

"Mako-chan…"

Makoto froze upon hearing his name. He blinked and stared at his tanned tutor with his eyes widened even more. Did he hear him correctly…? Nah, maybe it was just his—

"Mako-chan…"

No, he really did say his name this time. Makoto wished he knew what Seijuurou was dreaming about at that time, but upon hearing his name tumble out from the senior's lips, the olive-haired boy felt much better, which caused the warm, fuzzy feelings to return, and a smile to instantly spread out across his face.

He also decided that it was now to wake up the Samezuka captain. He gently shook at the redhead's shoulder, "Seijuurou-senpai." Makoto raised his voice just a tiny bit, "Wake up, Seijuurou-senpai.

Seijuurou suddenly made an odd noise that sounded like the mix between a snort and a snore. However, the redhead tiredly opened his golden eyes and glanced up…

…then he remembered what was happening.

"Oh crap!" Seijuurou perked up. "Crap! What time is it?! Ah man, I'm so sorry! I slept in on our lesson!"

Makoto gave a little chuckle before shaking his head, "No, no it's okay. We all need rest, after all. I think we should just continue with help on my speech tomorrow." Before Seijuurou could say something, the green-eyed boy added, "After all, you can achieve the best results and performance from a good well-being and state of mind, right?"

Hearing this, the redhead blinked before laughing. He shook his head, 'Damn…using my own words against me. Well played, Mako-chan. Well played.'

The day finally came two months later.

Makoto had to do his English presentation in front of the class.

Understandably, he was very nervous; he had practiced so many times in front of the mirror, in front of his siblings, in front of his friends, and most especially, in front of Seijuurou to see if there was anything wrong with his pronunciation or if there was some grammatical error that was initially unfound.

"Relax, you'll do an awesome job!" Seijuurou reassured him many times. And with every time that happened, he would flash him that smile.

That warm and encouraging one that reached his golden eyes, and made Makoto's whole being calm down, but his heart to swell.

When he found himself standing in front of the class, despite all the pairs of eyes staring at him, as well as the ringing silence that followed, Makoto shut his eyes for a moment, and imagined himself to be at a place where he felt happiest at – that would make him feel the most ease. He was told from a number of people that to think of the thing that made you most comfortable, would help relax the nerves and ease your being, so you wouldn't hyperventilate.

At first, it was the pool with all his friends – just swimming around and playing while talking as well as laughing.

Funny enough, on the day before the presentation, there seemed to be some sort of tension that descended upon them.

Though Makoto had Seijuurou to tutor him, he initially offered Haruka the redhead's services as well – the tanned captain didn't have a problem with teaching two people, but for some reason, the black-haired boy declined, and instead pushed through with the initial plan to get Rin to help him. Interestingly enough, Rin didn't seem to have a problem with helping Haruka with his English; in fact, Makoto had the feeling that the magenta-haired boy was a little inwardly smug at being better than the freestyle swimmer at something. Still, he seemed cheerful and eager about sharing what he knew, despite also studying for his TOEFL test.

But sadly, coming to the pool, there was an ugly display of tenseness as Rin was shooting dirty glances at Haruka with such angered red eyes, that it made Makoto cringe.

When he asked Gou, he was surprised to see the fuchsia haired girl's crimson eyes widen, then blush furiously at the question as to why Rin seemed really pissed off at Haruka this time. Though Rin didn't seem to have a problem in talking to Makoto himself, Nagisa or Rei (he was actually even in a deep conversation with the bespectacled fellow butterfly swimmer), Rin was speaking to Haruka more bluntly, aggressively, and shooting glares at his direction whenever he can.

"Why is Rin-chan so angry at Haru-chan today?" Makoto questioned, now thoroughly confused.

"Cut the chan," Haruka said bluntly before diving into the pool.

"What happened last night, Gou-chan?" inquired Makoto, not liking the tension.

"Erm...well…Haruka-senpai came last night so onii-chan could tutor him with English like always," the younger Matsuoka sibling said, though she fumbled with her clipboard. "And well, he received an email that he had passed his TOEFL test with flying colours, so he was really overjoyed with that."

Makoto arched an eyebrow, "But then…what is the problem?"

"Well…"

"You wanna know what the problem is?" Rin asked, obviously angry. He then stabbed a finger in Haruka's direction as the freestyle swimmer exited the pool to get a towel from Gou, "You stole my sister, you bastard!"

Gou groaned, "Onii-chan…"

"I didn't steal her," Haruka responded quite calmly. He took the towel from Gou, but that was when he suddenly grabbed hold of her hand with his free one. He gazed at Rin with his cerulean eyes sparking with a resolute manner; the kind that Makoto would see whenever his childhood friend was determined to get into a body of water or to swim. "Kou-chan isn't property; she can think for herself."

"You kissed her while I went off to check on my email, you sneaky son of a bitch!"

"Whaa! Gou-chan, you used your sex appeal?!" Nagisa meanwhile looked surprisingly overjoyed. However, upon hearing that, Rin was gritting his shark-like teeth and looked absolutely furious with steam flying out from his ears. Meanwhile, Gou's face matched the colour of her hair as she tried to hide her face behind the one hand that rubbed at her temple, and even Haruka's usually nonchalant face suddenly tinged a slight red.

Makoto could only watch what had happened; Rin was storming over to Haruka and yelling angrily at him to dump his sister or else he'd make him. Haruka simply stood firm and actually faced the older Matsuoka sibling head on. Before Rin could most likely punch or lunge at Haruka, Gou had stood between them acting like a sort of human shield as she spoke how she loved how her brother still showed that he cared for her now and worried about her, but she was no longer a little girl; she could think for and take care of herself…and she returned Haruka's feelings.

Rin looked hurt from her words as his whole being seemed to sag, but he suddenly took Gou by the hand and led her outside where they could have what seemed to be a private family talk. Haruka had tried to hold her hand tighter, but seeing her shake her head, he obliged and let go, though he looked unsure.

It was a bit of a while - about twenty minutes or so, but once the Matsuoka siblings returned inside, Gou looked much more relieved, and Rin seemed defeated, but he stood straight and tall to not show any sign of weakness. Seeing everyone's confused faces, Gou lifted her head in triumph as she then declared, "Onii-chan gave us permission to start dating!"

Hearing that, Haruka's confused eyes suddenly widened as they glowed – much like how he was whenever somebody mentioned a pool around him. Makoto couldn't help but snicker in amusement, which warranted a sharp, unamused look from his two childhood friends in conflict (afterwards, the olive-haired captain apologized and gave a sheepish smile, though).

"You're the best, onii-chan!" Gou then gave her big brother a big, tight hug.

Rin however heaved a heavy sigh, "Yeah, yeah…you can date. But there are some rules to follow," he then lifted some fingers, his eyes dark and serious, "One, no making out; two, no inappropriate touching; three, so help me if you reach the home base, Haruka – you're a dead man!"

"Onii-chan," Gou took her arms off her big brother, placed them on her hips, and gave him a glare of equal proportions.

"Fine," Rin rubbed his head; when it came to his precious baby sister, it was hard to argue against her. "Oh, and another thing…" this time, he came forward to Haruka and stabbed a finger in his chest before whispering in a deathly quiet tone, "If you break her heart, I'm gonna break every single part of your body."

Though that threat would've scared the ever-living crap out of a normal person, Haruka instead narrowed his eyes before he responded, "I'd never do that to her, and you and I both know that."

Rin simply snorted, looking incredibly suspicious, "We'll see."

During that time, Makoto had looked at Seijuurou; knowing that he had a huge and obvious crush on Gou for quite a while.

But suddenly, the scene melted away, and no longer was it a pool with everyone, but just a room with one.

Seijuurou's room.

And there, the redheaded captain was asleep with his head on the table, and a little bit of drool was seeping out from his mouth as he continued to snore.

Just gazing down at Seijuurou and sitting by his side, Makoto couldn't help but feel more at ease with that warm presence close by him. Though snoring tended to annoy a lot of people, Makoto didn't feel at all annoyed by his tanned tutor's snoring.

On the contrary, he actually felt better at knowing someone was just there.

Thinking of Seijuurou sleeping seemed to calm his nerves as his feelings bubbled, but definitely didn't twist or clench around. He then remembered a lot of things that the redhead had told him; to stand straight, to take your time, and to show confidence.

He definitely had to thank Seijuurou later for everything.

And so, with another deep breath, Makoto started his presentation.

The day had finally arrived.

Seijuurou's graduation.

With the ceremony already over, and so everyone was just exchanging goodbyes, gifts and even just writing in each other's yearbook nice messages of good luck, Seijuurou decided to just have a walk around his school for one last time; because he knew that by the time his final exams came around, he'd most likely just want to go home and sleep from studying his butt off for the past year, resulting in his brain most likely malfunctioning afterwards from the strain of the information processing.

It was during that time he had bumped into a rather unexpected yet familiar face.

"Mako-chan?" the redhead blinked in shock. Nope, he wasn't hallucinating; the olive-haired boy was standing right there outside the Samezuka indoor pool. But what was he even doing here? Did he come to see his graduation? It would be a touching notion, but Seijuurou quickly shook his head of that; why would Makoto come for that? The ceremony was already over, anyway. "What's up? What're you doing here?"

"Well, I just want to thank you for helping me with my English lessons; the teacher actually said I did well!"

"Sweet," Seijuurou beamed. "Again; you did things yourself. I only try to guide you in the right direction."

"Seijuurou-senpai," Makoto gave a small smile. "I didn't know where the ceremony was being held, so I decided to just wait here instead."

"All by yourself?"

Makoto rubbed the back of his head, "Well, Nagisa and Rei-chan were kept for detention because of a chemistry experiment gone wrong. Gou-chan and Haru-chan wanted to spend some time alone together."

"Ah, yeah," Seijuurou nodded. "Not that surprising, considering Matsuoka's been rather edgy with coping with that lately."

'But what about you?' Makoto wanted to ask the senior. 'Have you coped with it?'

Probably from the look on his face, Seijuurou could tell what the green-eyed boy was thinking. Yes, he had feelings for Gou before, and really, her and Haruka coming out as a couple came really unexpectedly; thus shocking him a lot. Because Gou didn't seem to show any romantic interest to anyone in general, and Haruka seemed to be void of any emotion besides his love for swimming.

However, though he expected something to stab then rip his heart to pieces, he found that though he felt his mind draw onto a blank…he was otherwise okay with it. It seemed like a good match to him: Gou was focused and very much determined, Haruka was calm and more quiet - she'd be able to draw him out of his shell some more. In all honesty, Seijuurou was more disturbed at seeing Rin looking so murderous – seriously, the guy looked like he could rip Haruka limb-from-limb if given the chance.

And it was during this time, that he realized that Makoto was looking at him the whole time with a worried expression.

"I'm fine, Mako-chan," Seijuurou grinned. "Thanks for the concern, though!"

"You're…not upset that Gou and Haru are dating?" Makoto asked, his eyes widening.

Seijuurou shrugged a shoulder, "Hey…you can't be a winner all the time. Besides, I may have been into her, but she never showed any sign of being into me; there's the saying after all: 'It takes two to tango.' I'd rather have her being happy with somebody else, than having a shitty time with me."

"I see," Makoto murmured, though he felt saddened at Seijuurou possibly feeling heartbroken. The redheaded boy shouldn't have to feel that way – it didn't seem right to him.

"Besides…" Seijuurou then came closer, though this time, he looked more noticeably embarrassed with a slight tinge on his face. "Something unexpected happened, anyway…"

Makoto arched both eyebrows, "And what was it?"

"I found what I was looking for elsewhere."

And before Makoto knew it, Seijuurou closed in on him – the olive-haired boy's back was against the building, and the redhead was staring down at him, now looking rather serious, but the golden glints in his eyes were highlighting how honestly he was thinking at that current situation. By now, his face was becoming the same shade as his hair. Breath hitched into his throat, Makoto couldn't help but stare back up at him with widened olive eyes at how close the two were – which caused his heart to skip a beat before rapidly thumping in his chest.

As for Seijuurou himself, always the one to act, even after a great amount of thinking, he needed to let some things out of his chest. Maybe it was because it was graduation day? Maybe it was because he was now certain about what he was feeling towards the younger student wasn't just a fluke, but genuine feelings as he continued guiding him.

Whatever the reason, Seijuurou simply leaned his head down, and captured his lips with his.

Makoto's eyes widened when the pair of lips smushed against his, and admittedly, it felt a bit awkward at first, with their noses and teeth slightly bumping each other, however, upon tilting his head and softly shutting his eyes, the olive-haired boy eagerly returned the passionate gesture as he then wrapped his arms around the slightly taller boy's neck while Seijuurou corresponded by placing his hold around the younger captain's waist.

It honestly felt like forever before the two broke apart to catch some breath, but once they did, upon seeing Makoto's rosy face, shy and gentle smile and his emerald orbs glowing with such warmth and affection; Seijuurou's face spread out onto a slightly sheepish, yet happy grin while the thing inside him that bloomed, suddenly came into full spring.

'Life truly is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get.'

And Forrest Gump is such an epic quoter. 8D

Anyway, I've got nothing much else to say. XD

Peace out, peeps!
- Hebi-Kazechi-10