Note: This idea came from a couple of prompts sent to me by accidentalencounter on tumblr. I loved the idea so much but struggled with making it happen. So, because of who I am as a person, I combined both prompts and turned them into a family drama. I don't know how many pieces this will be (and I don't need more WIP's lord help me) but I know where it's going!
The concept of a married Gou and Seijuro, and a Mikoshiba Swim Club was inspired by a piece of art by i-am-weis on tumblr. A link to the art can be found on the post for this fanfiction on my personal tumblr, erzadragonborn.
"I'm coming home
Tell the world I'm coming home"
The steam from her shower fogged the glass doors and mirror. Gou wrapped the towel around her body and crossed the tile floor to yank open the bathroom door. She'd never been a fan of saunas, despite her husband's affinity for them, and sucked in the gust of cooler air immediately. Her skin prickled with the change in temperature but she liked that too. The peach scented conditioner was a thing her husband also had an affinity for. Combing the stuff through her hair was more for him than her.
Gou left the bathroom behind and her eyes slid right past her clothes on the bed to the wide window on the opposite wall. Everything beyond was white and glittering. The branches of the tree in their small garden were encased in ice. Winter wasn't her favorite but all the kids loved the snow. She wouldn't ruin the fun with her complaints. Gou reached for her underwear and dropped the towel to the floor. Next came the yellow shirt printed with the Mikoshiba Swim logo. There were dozens of identical shirts in boxes in her husband's office. Gou made a mental note to remind him to order larger ones – the variety with the thinner, more stretchy fabric. In only a handful of months she'd need them.
Her phone chirped from the side table and she accepted the call without a second thought.
"Hello?" Gou said, pulling the yellow shirt over her head. The voice on the other end was frantic but recognizable. "Wait, wait, slow down! What's going on?"
"I'm so sorry, Kou," he said much slower. "I called as soon as I could. You need to come to the hospital."
"What?" Her blood ran colder than the ice outside the bedroom window. "But…" Words jumbled on the tip of her tongue. "What about the kids –"
"Please, Kou," he begged. "Makoto will handle it. Please just come." The call ended abruptly and Gou was left staring at the face of her phone.
On her way out the door, Gou shoved her arms through the sleeves of her jacket and her eye snagged on the framed photograph in the center of so many others. The picture had been taken two summers previous when her youngest had still been in diapers. Seijuro's arm was around her shoulder and she leaned into his side as if she belonged there. It had been quite a long time since she'd felt anything other than completely at home beside him. Everyone was smiling that day. Even Rin.
Gou snatched her keys from the basket and slammed the door behind her. Somewhere between the hospital and her home she realized the space between two years wasn't just seven hundred and thirty days. It was an expanse that stretched for eons.