A/N: Hey guys! So I've recently started watching Free with my roommate who is a competitive swimmer, and we both ship NagiGou super hard! I mean these two are just the most adorable little things and the idea of them together gets my fluffy shipper heart pounding, so of course I had to look for fan fiction for them. Although, much to my dismay they are a rare pair and there's not a lot of stories about them, and there are basically no series either. So, being a fan fiction author I of course had to write a fic for them! And not just any old one shot. No, there's plenty of those. This story...is going to be the first part in A SERIES! YES! A new addition to an already rare pairing, and an even rarer type of fic about them! So be prepared for mountains of NagiGou fluff as I write multiple parts to this story about these two adorable strawberry shortcakes. The title for this fic and other parts of the story are inspired by the song Accidentally in Love by Counting Crows. Look it up sometime! It describes NagiGou perfectly in my opinion. Well, anyway I'll shut up now and let you guys enjoy the story! I hope you all like it!
Nagisa took a hungry bite out of his strawberry shortcake and hungrily wolfed down the rest much to the shock of the boy next to him who was holding a pepper before it slipped from his hand and back into his lunch box. Nagisa smiled at Rei with whipped cream and crumbs all over his face. "Have you not eaten anything in a week?" Rei asks. "Because that appears to be the only explanation I have for why you would eat something so ravenously..."
"Nope. I had strawberry pancakes this morning for breakfast." The blonde says and takes another huge bite of another shortcake. "But today I got strawberry shortcake for lunch! And you know that's my favorite!" Nagisa says as he inhales the second cake. He picks up the third and offers it to Rei. "Want some?" He offers with his mouth full and the man looks down into his food.
"No thank you." He says. "I'd prefer to stick to my more healthier option of salad. As you can see I have a beautiful arrangement of all different kinds of peppers today." He says and gestures to his food.
"I think peppers are disgusting." Nagisa says, his cheeks stuffed with sugary strawberries. Rei's eye twitches before he explodes on the boy.
"Well you wouldn't know what beautiful food is considering all you eat are sugary snacks that hold no nutritional value! Seriously how does one survive on such a diet!" Rei exclaims and pins down the blonde.
"The sugar just keeps me going I guess." Nagisa says as a bead of sweat drops down his forehead.
"What's going on here?" Gou asks as she comes up to the roof to find Nagisa pinned underneath Rei. Rei stands up and readjusts his glasses.
"I should inform you that Nagisa here is once again eating nothing but sugary snacks, therefore jeopardizing the team by not being able to preform at his top condition due to his lacking nutrition." Rei says and Gou sighs and shakes her head, coming to stand before Nagisa's head and she looks down at him.
"Nagisa what did I say about sugary snacks?" Gou asks him and taps her foot impatiently.
"But Gou-chan!" Nagisa whines. "It's not entirely sugary! There are strawberries in it!"
"It's Kou!" She says and stomps her foot. "And that still doesn't excuse the fact that you need to be eating healthier in order to help the team." She huffs and crosses her arms with her nose in the air.
"But Gou-" Nagisa starts.
"It's Kou!" Gou shouts, leaning over so she's practically staring him right in the face.
"Anyway..." The blonde blushes and attempts to sink lower into the ground. "I thought you liked strawberries."
"What makes you think that?" Gou asks.
"You have a bunch of strawberries on your panties." Nagisa points out and Gou's face flushes bright red when she realizes that the positions she was standing before the blonde's head in allowed him to look up her skirt. And it's not like he could really help it, considering it happened to be in his line of sight. But nevertheless, Gou was fuming, jumping back and pulling her skirt down over her legs more.
"You pervert!" She exclaims. "Hasn't anyone ever taught you any manners! You're not supposed to look up a girl's skirt!"
"I couldn't help it! You were standing right over me." Nagisa argues. "So you do like strawberries?" He asks innocently. Rei pinched his nose and groaned at his best friend's ignorance.
"I'll see you both at practice." Gou says and walks briskly past them.
"But Gou-" Nagisa tries to say.
"IT'S KOU!" She scolds him and slams the door as she goes back inside the school from the rooftop.
"She didn't answer my question..." Nagisa pouts.
"Well you looked up her skirt, therefore violating her privacy! Why would she respond to you after that!" Rei exclaims.
"It was right in front of me!" Nagisa argues. "It's not like I was trying to do it! I was trying to look at her face but as she was talking my vision started to wander and that's when I noticed the strawberries on her panties under her skirt and suddenly that's all I was thinking about." Rei groans and leans his head back against the wall with a bang.
"How is it that you seem to lack the basic common knowledge about one's personal space and privacy?" Rei mutters then Nagisa throws his arms around his neck and pulls him close, nearly choking the boy.
"I don't know. I've just always been a cuddler I guess." The blonde says cheerfully and Rei squints at him. "I see." He says, then his eyes widen when an unusual thought comes to mind and then he studies Nagisa's face carefully. "Then would you mind if I offered an alternative hypothesis as to why you found yourself drawn to gaze upon our team manager's intimate body parts a few moments ago?" Rei asks and Nagisa just smiles cheerfully as he always does and flashes a toothy grin.
"Sure! I don't see why not!" He says happily and starts drinking from a juice box. It was strawberry flavored of course.
"You two have known each other since you were young children correct?" Rei asks and Nagisa nods. "And you have always seemed to have a habit of teasing each other, in the way that you refer to her as 'Gou' even though she prefers to be called 'Kou'?" Nagisa shrugs.
"More or less. But what does this have to do with me checking out her awesome panties?" Nagisa asks. Rei pushes up his glasses.
"Is it possible that over the course of time that you have known our team manager, from childhood to the present, that you have begun to develop romantic feelings for her?" Rei asks and the blonde spits out his drink and starts choking on the air. Rei grasped his shoulders.
"Nagisa are you alright?" He asks, concern in his tone. Nagisa places his hand on Rei's shoulder as well to steady himself, then he starts laughing hysterically and falls over onto the ground. "Nagisa, you haven't answered my question-"
"IN LOVE WITH GOU-CHAN!" The blonde exclaims and his magenta eyes are bright with merriment and have a glint of mischief in them. "Rei you're hilarious! Gou-chan and I have always been friends. And now we're best friends. Besides, even if I did like her there's no way she would ever like me back! I don't have the muscles she's looking for, and I think she's looking for someone more serious. I guess I'm just not her type."
"But that doesn't mean that you can't have feelings for her just because you believe she will never regard you in the same manner." Rei says and considers the boy more closely. Nagisa chews the last of his food a bit slower and looks at Rei. "Therefore, you still have not answered my question." They heard a bell from inside.
"Well time to go back to class!" Nagisa says. "SeeyoulatertodayatpracticeRei!" He says quickly and runs off down the stairs.
"It's incredible that he could move so quickly..." Rei considers and places his hand on his chin. "The large amount of sugar he just ingested must have something to do with that." He says to himself then goes to pack his things and get to class.
Later that day at practice, Gou seemed very focused on taking down the swimmer's times and recording them, as well as instructing some of the new first years on the ropes of the team. Since Haru and Makoto had graduated, Gou wanted to make sure that the team didn't lose momentum with any inexperienced newbies dragging them down. Nagisa would try to engage in conversation with her, but she would just turn her nose up at him and instruct him to get back in the pool and work on perfecting his stroke. The blonde pouted and hung his head low, retreating to the pool to do as he was told. "Do you think Gou is still mad at me?" Nagisa asks Rei as the two hung onto the wall of the pool after doing some laps.
"What was your first clue?" Rei asks. "The fact that she refuses to talk to you today or the fact that when you do try to engage in conversation with her she gets mad and gets bossier than usual?"
"I thought she was just teasing me like we always do to each other." Nagisa says and Rei facepalms so hard it leaves a red mark on his forehead.
"Hasn't anyone ever told you how to read the room!" Rei exclaims and Nagisa thinks for a moment.
"I've heard that expression somewhere before...I think my mom used to yell it to me sometimes when I was little...But aside from that, nope. Never heard of it." Nagisa says and Rei groans and lightly taps his head against a block.
"Alright great practice today everyone!" Gou says cheerfully and everyone gets out of the pool. "I'll see you back here tomorrow and you'd better all be on time!" She threatens and then rolls her eyes as she sees Nagisa and Rei chatting in the pool. "I said practice was over! Go home!" She yells at them and goes to one side of the pool to pick up her things.
"Oh wonderful." Rei says as he gets out of the pool. "She's directing her anger at me now as well. Thanks a lot Nagisa."
"What did I do?" Nagisa asks and Rei's eye twitches.
"A simpler question would be what haven't you done." Rei says and dries his hair off with a towel as the smaller boy pouted and looked at Gou.
"I guess I should try to apologize. I don't want to think that I've actually hurt Gou-chan." Nagisa says.
"It's Kou!" She shouts at them from across the pool.
"She has ears like a hawk..." Rei observes.
"Gou!" Nagisa calls back.
"Kou!" She responds.
"Gou!"
"Kou!"
"Gou!" With each yell they got increasingly louder, and Rei started fuming, certain he would get a migraine if their childish antics continued like this.
"Kou!"
"Kou!"
"G-Kou! Ha! I didn't fall for it this time!" She says and takes a few triumphant steps forward before slipping and falling into the pool. Nagisa laughed and Rei had a small smile on his face before he remembered something.
"Gou can't swim!" He exclaims and then Nagisa stops laughing and regards the scene in the water before him. Gou was flailing around and struggling to keep her head above water. She was sinking down a lot. Rei froze, unsure of what to do.
"Don't worry Gou-chan I'm coming!" Nagisa exclaims and dives into the pool and swims towards Gou. She had stayed under considerably longer this time. Her eyes were closed as Nagisa dove under and wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her close and looking upon her fondly, in what some would say was an almost romantic way. The girl's eyes opened slightly to see her hero looking upon her with such a gaze, the water moving his wavy blonde locks around his face, and the sunlight behind his head shining around him. This moment seemed to last forever for Gou, even though in reality it was only a few seconds because soon Nagisa resurfaced with her in his arms, Rei rushing over to help him bring her out of the water and lay her down on the concrete.
"Gou! Gou!" Rei says and shakes her shoulders, but she did not wake. Nagisa got out of the pool and looked at her, growing increasingly worried.
"Gou-chan, come on, please wake up." He begs in a shaky voice and looks at her with a desperate expression. He remembered all of those fun times that they had teasing each other when they were kids, and how Gou liked him best out of all her brother's friends because he was the only one of them who would give her hugs and be excited about seeing her when she came to tournaments. He had known her for so long, and planned on making so many new memories with her, the thought of them ending here ripped his heart in half. His best friend's voice brought him out of his reverie.
"She needs CPR." Rei says and Nagisa's face lights up.
"Mouth to mouth! I can do that!" Nagisa exclaims. Rei notices Gou move a bit and her eyelids flutter and looks relieved. But that ends when Nagisa quickly smashes his lips to hers.
"Wait Nagisa she doesn't need-" Rei pleads and his face reddens as he watches his best friend attempt to give mouth to mouth to Gou. He wasn't even doing it correctly. He wasn't holding her mouth open or pinching her nose. Essentially what he was doing was making out with her. Gou's eyes fluttered open as she felt a pair of soft, slightly chapped lips, molding with hers. The mysterious pair of lips opened hers, then closed them, in a gentle rhythmic pattern that had Gou's heart pounding. I must be dreaming. She thought to herself. That I almost died but now I'm being awoken with a kiss from a strong, handsome-NAGISA! Her eyes widened and she looked at the boy who had realized she had come to and pulled back and stood on his knees where he was straddling her to give her 'mouth to mouth'. He had the most cheerful expression on his face and a few droplets from his body dropped down onto Gou. Although she didn't mind. She was already soaking wet anyway.
"It worked Rei-chan!" Nagisa exclaims happily. "I saved your life Gou!"
"It's Kou." She says through gritted teeth and she narrows her eyes.
"Okay. Well that doesn't matter." Nagisa says, not sensing the anger rolling off of the girl beneath him. "The most important thing is that you're alright! I'm so glad you're not-" Gou kicked him hard in the chest, knocking him backwards into the pool.
"YOU IDIOT!" She exclaims and Nagisa resurfaces looking confused.
"What did I do this time?" The blonde pouts. "I just saved your life!"
"YOU STOLE MY FIRST KISS!" Gou exclaims, tears forming in her eyes.
"I had to give you mouth to mouth to save your life!" Nagisa argues.
"That wasn't mouth to mouth! I was already waking up so I didn't need it and you weren't doing it properly! You were kissing me!" She yells at him and Rei muttered something under his breath about losing his hearing from his two insufferable friends. "I had my first kiss all planned out... I was going to find the most amazing guy. A tall, strong and handsome yet kind and gentle man and the two of us would fall in love and share a kiss by the beach at sunset... It was going to be so magical. But instead I get stuck with an idiot who can't even pronounce my name right who kisses me by mistake!" She exclaims and throws a nearby kick board at Nagisa. Rei and Nagisa had never seen her so angry.
"But..." Nagisa looked at her with those sad puppy eyes and his adorable pout. Gou felt her angry expression start to loosen at the sight of his sullen look but she remembered she had to maintain her anger and not give in so that Nagisa would learn his lesson. So she quickly ran off towards the changing rooms to change into some dry clothes. "How come she's so mad?" Nagisa asks Rei. "I thought she would be happy I saved her life."
"Women are fickle creatures." Rei says. "Perhaps you should just not associate with them."
"Oh so that's why girls don't hang around you?" Nagisa asks and Rei stiffens and looks angrily at the cheerful blonde, making his smile immediately fall.
"Just get out of pool and go home." Rei says flatly and goes to the changing rooms. Nagisa watched him go and smiled.
"I'm sure it'll be fine. Gou can never seem to stay too mad at me for long." Nagisa reminds himself and gets out of the pool to follow Rei.
A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the first part of this series! Yes! A series! NagiGou is already kind of a rare pair and finding a series for these two is even harder but now I hope I can reawaken the shippers with the new hope that my writing for these two can hopefully bring! Also I would greatly appreciate feedback. If you like this story but don't have much to say then please favorite and follow! And if you do have something to say please comment! Stay tuned for part two, coming soon!