Once the last bell of the day rang, Gou practically jumped up from her seat and made her way to the swimming pool. She did not even bother to pay any attention to her friends, who were following close behind her, asking her to slow down. Gou shook her head, trying to ignore her friends' pleas. She could not slow down; she needed to get to swimming pool before Nagisa leave for the day. She needed to see him so she can tell him how she felt about him, the red headed girl clenched her fist as she approached the swimming pool's gate. She could feel her face heating up as she spotted Nagisa sitting on the floor, eating a strawberry cake. She bit down on her lips, nervously, feeling unsure of herself. How was she supposed to tell Nagisa that she have a crush on him? She could not come up with an answer. She turned around to leave. Maybe another time would be better to confess her feelings to Nagisa.
"Gou!" Her friends called out. They had their hands on their knees as they tried to catch their breaths. "Why are you in such a rush?"
Quickly, Gou went to her friends, moving her hands to tell them to be quiet. She scuffed the ground with her shoes. "I wanted to tell Nagisa how I feel about him." The red headed girl said in a low hushed voice, blushing.
Her friends squealed in excitement. "Did you tell him yet? What did he say?" They asked in harmony.
"I did not tell him yet." She admitted, embarrassed. "I don't even know what to say to him."
Her friends opened their mouths to say something, but someone beat them to it.
" Maybe I can help you, Gou!" the voice called out.
All the girls turned around to face Nagisa with a shocked look on their face. Gou placed both of her hands on her faces, trying to hide her face. She hoped the blond did not hear the whole conversation that she had with her friends. Trying to find out what Nagisa had heard from the conversation, Gou remained quiet.
The blond boy walked up to Gou. " You said that you did not know what to say him. I am guessing that you were talking about your secret crush." Nagisa frown a bit, trying to figure out who was Gou's secret crush. He frowned even harder when he guessed that Gou had a crush on Seijuro Mikoshiba, the captain of the Samezuka's swimming team. He sighed a little before continuing. "Maybe I can help you confess your feelings to your secret crush."
Gou gasped. She was happy that Nagisa did not know who she was talking about. But, she was embarrassed and upset to have Nagisa help her out with her "secret crush". She did not want to tell him yet; she was not ready.
Gou's friends took this moment to leave the two of them alone. They even teased her a bit, before leaving the school's grounds.
She rubbed her right shoulder. "I am not sure if you can help me."
"Sure, I can!" He grabbed her by the hand and led her to a spot near the swimming pool. They both sat down on the floor. "You can pretend that I am your crush!" He beamed. "Just tell me how you feel! It doesn't matter if it's all jumbled up and you start talking about every single detail that you like about that person." At that, Nagisa frowned slightly. " I will listen! Just say what comes from your heart." He placed a hand over his heart and smiled at her.
Suddenly, Gou found it hard to breathe. She knew Nagisa was trying to help her, but she knew it was not going to work. She was just too shy. "Nagisa, I appreciate that you are trying to help me, but this seriously is not going to work."
"How do you know it's not going to work, if you don't give it a try." He nudged her shoulder. "C'mon, it's not like your secret crush is here."
The red headed girl lowered her head. "He is here." She mumbled.
"Huh?" Nagisa said, dumbfounded, looking around to see if Seijuro was there to no avail. There was nobody else but the two of them. Then maybe... Nagisa started to smile at the sudden realization, but he was not one hundred percent sure about. He held on to her hands. "What are you talking about, Gou? We are the only ones here." He asked, playing dumb.
Gou groaned, becoming annoyed at the blond for being so clueless and at herself for being so shy. Gulping down her annoyance, Gou decided that she was going to be brave and confess to Nagisa. "I-I know that, but he is here, standing right in front of me." Gou started, looking at her feet. She did not have the courage to look up at Nagisa. "What I'm trying to say is that I really like you, Nagisa! I like how nice you are. I like how you always try to help someone. I like the way you swim. I like how you always close your eyes and giggle after you eat something sweet. I just love everything about you." She paused after realizing that she just used the word 'love'. She glanced up at Nagisa, who was blushing really hard. Gou titled her head and smiled. She could not deny it any further; she was in love with Nagisa. She took a deep breath and continued. " But most of all, I love how you are always able to make me smile." Becoming more daring, Gou placed her right hand on his face, and caressed his cheeks. "I love you so much, Nagisa, that it hurts."
Nagisa held on to her hand and gave it a light squeeze. " I am so stupid! After all this time, I thought you were in love with someone else. All the hints were right there in front of me, but I was oblivious to it. I should have seen the signs earlier then maybe I could have..." He stopped in his sentence. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. How could he be so stupid? How could he not see the signs earlier. He thought as he hugged the girl in front of him. "I am so sorry, Gou."
"For what?" Gou said, confused.
"For making you wait so long." Nagisa pulled back. " What I'm trying to say is that I feel the same way."
"Y-you do?"
"Yes, Gou, yes! I have always liked you ever since I first met you. I like being your friend. I like spending time with you. I like how you plan ahead and do so much for the club." He placed his hands on her waist. "I fell in love with you, Gou, the day of the festival. You were so beautiful in that kimono that my heart had skipped a beat.I tried to deny it at first, believing that my heart was playing a trick on me, but every time that I was around you, my heart was acting the same way as it did on the day of the festival. Even when I did accept the fact that I was in love you, I tried to hide it away from you so I would not have done something stupid that might have ruined our friendship..." He trailed off.
"Something stupid? Like what?"
"Something like this." That was all Nagisa had said before he closed the distance between them and kissed Gou on the lips. The kiss did not last for a long time, but it was filled with so much passion and love that it left them both gasping for air. Once, they both caught their breaths, Nagisa kissed her on the forehead. "I've always wanted to do that!" He beamed. "I love you so much, Gou."
"I love you too, Nagisa!" Gou said, closing the distance between them and kissed him. She could not deny it any further; she was in love Nagisa and he was in love with her too, and she was happy with that.