! First time posting for this fandom! I hope it's alright~?! (So nervous!) In light of some recent events that happened to me personally, and coinciding with marathoning and becoming obsessed with this series, I typed up this story in it's entirety! Many characters are probably OOC and there's probably so muh wrong with this, but this is the first chapter and I'll probably jsut psot all the rest fairly shortly after this posting because I've got them all typed and the last thing I need is to drag out a multi-chapter-fic-posting...
This is SeiGou centric with a heavy side of Gou and Rin sibling interaction, with as much cameo and support form the other characters as I could fit~
Disclaimer: The title of this piece is after the band Lydia's album, 'Illuminate', and each chapter I've titled after the 12 tracks (bonus track included) of the album, though may not have that much to do lyric-and-title wise with each chapter~ Give them a lsiten, they're an old band but so beautiful!
[brackets] serve as text, in case you don't get that?
This story really picks up right off from where the season ended.
There's a long A/N after this, so warning about that too! I wouldn't go as far to warn about any trigger-inducing scene because my writing I don't think is that pwoerful enough but just in case..? There's a bit of assault violence but I'm pretty sure no cussing in this chapter..?
I hope you enjoy!
..Ha Yeah It Got Pretty Bad
[Mom is leaving for the week. Would you want to hang out sometime?]
She reads the message over and over, replacing words and rephrasing the question.
[Want to grab some lunch?!]
[You haven't seen the house in a while! We changed some things!]
[How are you?]
She gets angry—this message sounds too pathetic, too needy, too aloof—so she backspaces it entirely and just as her thumb hovers over the keyboard, she hesitates.
He won't care how she words it; what she types. He won't respond.
Gou selects the cancel option and tosses the phone aside.
She immediately grabs at the phone, though, opening her message outbox and again contemplating sending him a message. When she still can't think of the right thing to say, or convince herself that this time it'll be different and he'll reply, she drops her phone in her school bag.
Stupid older brother.
"Oi, Matsuoka!"
Rin flinches. He isn't paying much attention and hasn't even begun to change back into his regular clothes from their morning swim practice. Beside him, Nitori is already tying his shoes, dressed for school. He turns to see the approaching figure of Seijuro.
"Captain Mikoshiba…"
"You're doing good out there!" His captain clasps him on the back before glancing at Rin's hand.
"Hm? Who're you texting?"
"I'm not texting anyone!" Rin snaps, gripping his phone and hiding it from Mikoshiba.
"Rin's upset because Gou hasn't texted him in a week…"
"Gou?" The Captain's interests suddenly perk. Rin sees the blush form on his captain's cheeks just from thinking about his sister and he hates this conversation even more. His captain is a fine guy, but there's no way in hell Rin wants him anywhere near his sister.
"Oi, that isn't it, Ai!" Rin snaps at his roommate, who both cringes and chuckles at Rin's reaction.
"Does she normally text you a lot?" Mikoshiba asks, and Rin makes more of an effort to hide his phone screen in case the captain should see and memorize his sister's number.
"Every morning!" Nitori chirps.
"Nitori!" Rin warns.
"Maybe you upset her," Mikoshiba offers and Rin catches the hint of hostility in his captain's voice. What right does he have to be angry at Rin? He didn't upset her…he's pretty sure.
"Tch. Whatever…it's better that she isn't texting me every damn day. Those texts got annoying…"
"You still would read them, wouldn't you though?" Nitori mumbles.
Luckily for Nitori, Rin doesn't catch this. He tosses his phone in his locker and heads towards the pool.
"Eh? Rin-! Practice just ended, why're you going back out to the pool?! You're supposed to change-"
"I want to swim!" Rin yells back, irritated with his stupid roommate and his stupid captain and his stupid sister who is ignoring him for some reason.
"Hm? Gou, what happened to your phone?"
"Eh? Nothing happened to it…why?" Gou asks, suddenly concerned that her phone is broken or lost; she frantically shuffles through her bag in search of it.
"Oh! No, I just meant I hadn't seen you with it in a while!"
Gou pouts, "Hana, I wasn't always on my phone!" She hopes, self-conscious.
Chigusa giggles, quickly apologizing before sighing, "So, you really haven't texted your brother all week?"
Gou shrugs. It's not that big of a deal, she tells herself.
"Gou!"
"It's Kou," She warns, rather tiresomely, before she even turns around to face the all-too-familiar cheery voice of Nagisa. There's no swim practice after school today and she really just wants to go home and start on the chores her mother left her.
Hana gives some excuse about some afterschool activity, taking her leave just as Nagisa runs up to Gou.
"We're all headed to the Samezuka swimming pool today! Come with us!"
"Why would you swim there? It's still plenty warm enough to swim in our outdoor pool…"
"We're not going to swim," to which Nagisa pauses and adds, "Haru might…but we were going to go to cheer on Mikoshiba! Nationals are in two weeks!"
Gou smiles softly, "That's right."
"Come with us!"
"I wish I could, but I have chores…"
"Rin will be there!"
Her smile flinches and if Nagisa catches it, he doesn't mention it. She realizes Nagisa means to further convince her by offering that her brother will be there rather than deter her reasoning for going. Gou hides her inward wince, still feeling guilty over having not texted her brother in almost a week now. It's not that they're fighting or she's mad at him.
Maybe she should go with the swim club today, see Rin…check to see if he's alright.
"Okay…but just for a little bit! I really do have to be getting home soon-"
Nagisa doesn't hear a word after 'okay'.
"Great!"
"Rin…where are you?" Gou muttered to herself, scanning the pool for the familiar head of her brother's. She gripped the strap of her bag tightly in both hands, wringing it to give her hands something to do as she stood straight and centered within the gym. The others are caught up behind her, talking to someone or admiring some trophy case or other.
"Oi! Gou!"
Gou flinched, swallowing down her correction of "it's Kou" and turning to greet the enthusiastic approaching swimmer.
"Mikoshiba! Have you seen my brother?"
Mikoshiba's bright gold eyes seemed to dull with disappointment before he happily pointed towards the back corner of the gymnasium.
"Ah! Thank you, Mikoshiba!" Gou bowed, turning in the direction after her brother.
"Oi, Gou-! Before you go…"
Gou halted on her heels, spinning around so quickly that her bag swung with her, slamming against her hip and causing the Iwatobi penguin charm to snap off. Gou instantly dove for the charm, just at the moment that Mikoshiba also ducked for it, causing an awkward collision in which they both nearly collapsed before Mikoshiba set them right, gripping Gou's forearms to balance her.
"Ah, y-yes, Mikoshiba..?"
The sudden bridging of the distance between them finally hit Mikoshiba as he realized just how close he was to Gou—evident on the blush that spread on her cheeks as she, too, realized how close they were. He quickly broke apart, standing straight so he loomed over a good foot above the freshman. Gou herself straightened, clipping the charm back onto her bag before glancing back in the direction of her brother.
"There was something else..?" She muttered, nervously glancing between the captain and her brother as if the anticipation of keeping her from the latter caused her anxiety. Mikoshiba jolted aware, shaking his hands, "Ah, it's nothing! Another time, may-?"
"Alright then! It was nice to see you again, Captain!"
Mikoshiba's shoulders dropped as Gou sprinted off without another glance back, eager to approach her brother.
"Ah, s-sure…Gou."
Halfway across the pool, Gou slows down and stops, her feet coming together as she contemplates approaching her brother. His back is still turned—it's not too late. She could turn around, go home (like she's supposed to) and maybe text him finally that afternoon. There's just some sort of tension between the two of them when there doesn't have to be, but maybe now isn't-
"Gou! G-Hey! Look, there's Rin! C'mon~!" Nagisa suddenly cheers from beside her, tugging her along by the wrist and suddenly her decision is made for her.
Makoto is beside her and just behind him is Haru, though he's eyeing the pool as if he won't stand by the others for long. Rei is trying to catch up, having been left behind tying his shoe or other, and as the group makes their way to Rin, the red head finally turns to notice them.
Rin looks straight to Gou before any of the others.
"Gou? What are you doing here?"
"We're here to cheer on Mikoshiba!" Nagisa answers, ignoring that Rin asked Gou.
"Mikoshiba?" He asks, looking from Nagisa to Gou.
"Mm!"
His earlier confrontation with the captain still fresh on his mind, jealousy rises in Rin slightly. It's not intentional, but the fact his own sister is here to see his captain, not him, gets to him a little.
"Rin, you have a lot of visitors! You're so popular!"
"They were just leaving, Ai."
"So mean~!"
"Looks like we're not the only visitors…who are they, up in the stands?" Makoto asks, pulling everyone's attention to the bleachers, where a group of students no older than them gathered at the top. Their jackets suggest they're from another school, to which Gou squints to read.
"They're not from our district…is that school in our region?"
"They're scouting competition."
"Eh?"
"We've had a lot of visitors like them this week. Competitors from other schools trying to get a glimpse before Nationals at Mikoshiba. Waste of time; they should be practicing at their own pool instead of sitting around, watching…"
Gou eyes the gathered students, all boys. Most of them have dark hair, wearing matching sweats and pointing around the gym at swimmers and equipment alike. The center boy, however, has pale hair—more so than Nagisa—and seems to have turned his attention on their very group.
Gou feels increasingly uncomfortable, turning back to her brother.
"Mikoshiba will beat them, right?"
Rin shrugs.
"Not sure."
Gou glances back at Mikoshiba who leads a stretch, silently praying victory for him. She spares one final glance at the gathered foreigners, wincing as she realizes the middle boy still stares in their direction.
Subconsciously, she steps behind Rin as though to hide. He notices this, glancing the way she looks, but says nothing. The pale haired boy turns the moment Rin looks, his attention now on Mikoshiba and the other swimmers.
"Well, we better find a place in the bleachers too!" Nagisa chirps.
"We came to cheer for Mikoshiba! Nationals are in two weeks and we want to show our support from Iwatobi!"
Rin doesn't say anything and watches as the group files into the bleachers, all the while watching Gou who seems to continually glance at the rival school.
He decides he'll confront her after practice to see if anything is wrong.
Practice seems to go well. Mikoshiba spends more time overlooking his team than individually practicing, which Gou feels concerned about but also is grateful-the less that other team sees of Mikoshiba's abilities, the better.
Rin seems to be swimming well, too…
Gou is so concerned, watching her brother, she misses out in half the cheers the others, led by Nagisa, holler out in encouragement towards Mikoshiba; like this is the actual event at Nationals. She doesn't even admire the other fellow swimmer's exposed muscles. She's too busy trying to read Rin from this distance, to notice if he's any bit bother that they haven't spoken.
Maybe he really just doesn't care.
"Oh! It's that time already?" Gou exclaims, glancing at her phone.
"You have to be somewhere, Kou?" Haru asks.
"My mom is out of town this week. She left me all these chores around the house I need to take care of!" She stands suddenly, lifting her arm as if to wave at Rin. She catches herself, though. He isn't turned to face her and won't see her anyway.
He doesn't care if she says goodbye or not.
She swallows her disappointment and says her goodbyes to the others.
Gou spares one glance in the direction of the students from the other school, only to notice they're no longer sitting in the stands.
When did they leave?
By the pool, Mikoshiba catches a glimpse in passing of Gou retreating down the stairs, whipping his head back to the other Iwatobi members to confirm she has indeed left.
"Where's Gou going?" He asks to no one in particular, though Nitori is nearby, drying himself off, and hears him.
"Captain should already confess to Gou…I'm sure she'll reciprocate his feelings!"
"You don't know women," he adds bitterly. "Ah, but you're right! Better to lay your heart out there than let it fester!"
He continues to stare after Gou for a minute, to which Nitori suddenly feels worried about.
"Captain..?"
Mikoshiba suddenly smiles, grinning largely to Nitori and winking before adding, as if more to boost his own confidence then to reassure Nitori, "Don't let it fester, right?!"
"Captain..!?"
Gou grips both hands around her bag, slumping as she walks from the gym's entrance. She shouldn't have come today, she thinks. She thought coming here and seeing Rin might cure her of this tantrum she's pulling where she isn't talking to him, except it's not a tantrum. There's no reason behind it. He never texts her back so why should she text him? Or call him?
Or talk in person to him?
"Excuse me, Miss? You don't go to Samezuka, do you?"
Gou stops, turning to see the pale boy from the bleachers.
She's just passed the Samezuka school gates, hidden from the school by the wall that encloses the grounds. There's no cars passing in the road beside them and it's getting dark soon.
He's not much taller than her—Nagisa's height, most likely. His hair is lighter than Nitori's, and his eyes are equally as pale. It's unnerving, but she smiles despite herself.
"I'm afraid not! A-are you lost?"
He smiles at her, but there's something off putting about his smile. His eyes look bored, but then they suddenly flicker and there's motive behind them. She grips the strap to her bag tighter.
Calm down, Kou, she thinks.
"That's a shame. That you're not from around here, I mean."
He steps towards her and it's a wonder she doesn't step back, but she holds her ground and nods slowly.
"I didn't catch your name?"
"…Kou," she offers after hesitating.
"That's a pretty name. I'm Kent."
She nods but her smile is thin and she pretends to glance at her phone.
Where are his friends he was with earlier?
"It was nice to meet you, but I'm in kind of a hurry. I wish I could help you, but I-"
"You're in that much of a hurry?"
Gou jumps, because Kent has somehow stepped in front of her. When did he get there? He's quick, she thinks, and she tries to step around him but he throws an arm out and he's blocking her from leaving.
"I think we can find some time," his voice has dropped low and the hairs on the back of her neck rise. She's suddenly overcome with fear and this situation isn't in her favor.
Gou throws her hands in front of her, shoving at Kent. He's expecting it, though; the moment her palms collide with his chest, his hands are there and grip her wrists.
She squirms against him, pushing at him and her bag jumps at her hips, hitting him though he ignores it.
He pushes against her, using his grip on her wrists to shove her backwards and she's tripping into an alley she wasn't aware she was by. This must have been where he was, and why she didn't notice him until he called out to her.
She brings her foot up and kicks at his shin and for a second she's free-
-until a third hand grabs her shoulder.
So that's where his friends were.
Now she's surrounded and there's two hands on each of her arms. She's afraid and when she finally thinks to scream, there's a hand over her mouth, too.
"I'm not in any hurry, why should you be? You're very pretty," Kent adds, like a second thought. Gou struggles in the grips of his friends, who all snicker and watch Kent with hungry eyes. He must be their ringleader, and she's terrified at what sort of gang he leads.
This isn't looking well for her and she wants nothing more but to scream for Rin. For the swim club, for someone. Anyone…
Kent is in front of her and brings a hand to her cheek. The hand gripping her mouth doesn't release, though, and her jaw is being clenched tight to keep from biting her assailant.
"I couldn't help but notice you inside, you're just that pretty!"
"You're actually really cute!"
Gou glares at Kent, trying to shake off her retainers and thrashing her legs to keep Kent from her. He deflects her kick, though, and now the space between them is gone. Kent's hands replace that of his friends and his grip pins her arms against her sides. He leans in close and she feels his breadth hit her cheek and she keeps imagining Rin coming to her rescue.
But everyone is inside at swim practice.
No one is going to come looking for and find her because no one expects her to be in trouble.
She's on her own.
Kent cocks his head so his lips are positioned above her, and he's smiling. He's twisting her arms behind her and she squirms uncomfortably, trying to free herself from him. His body is pressed against hers, no matter how much she tries to lean or step away from him. His hand pries at her jaw, forcing her mouth open as he plunges at her.
One moment she's bracing herself, and the next Kent is sprawled on the ground to her left.
Then she notices that her hands and arms and legs are free.
"Run."
Gou hesitates for a moment.
A towering figure steps in front of her without so much as looking back at her, suddenly taking on the gang of her assailants. There's a moment where everything is still before her savior comes to life and bolts between the harassers, landing punch after kick and dodging counter hits.
Adrenaline rushes to her feet and now she's running, but not before she tries one last time to glimpse the profile of her savior.
Mikoshiba.
Gou rounds the alley just in time to run crashing into the chest of a sprinting figure. For a moment she's afraid it's one of Kent's friends, and she pushes off the chest of the figure without looking up, suddenly screaming at him to let her go, only to find arms embracing her, hugging her to the figure.
"Gou! It's me!"
Gou lifts her head up, and through terrified eyes recognizes her brother.
She opens her mouth to say she's sorry, about having stopped texting him and about having not said goodbye to him and about pushing him away just now, but words don't come out and she's too busy thinking about what she barely got away from just now. She's thinking about Mikoshiba, still back there…
"Rin! Stay with Gou—We'll help Mikoshiba!"
Rin glances at Makoto and the others who pass him in a race to reach and assist Mikoshiba. He wants so desperately to join the others, to punch the crap out of the bastards who thought they could lay a hand on his sister…
His sister.
Gou is shaking in his arms and just when her legs give and she collapses, he catches her. She tries to turn her head, with wide eyes, to look back towards the others, who have now evened the playing field with Mikoshiba as he's no longer fighting five on one. He realizes that no, he'd rather be here. By her side, holding her, shielding her from looking; Gou, stop looking.
Rin pushes at Gou's head, pressing her face into his shirt and blocking her view. He's turned around; he can't watch the others. The temptation is too great to join them.
"Nagisa! Call Coach!"
Coach..? Sasabe? Rin wants to turn around, to ask why Makoto wants Nagisa to call their old coach of all people. His mother, Gou's mom—they should be calling her! They should be calling the police; well, no. Maybe not now.
Nagisa is by his side, with a hand gripping Rin's shoulder because he isn't sure if he should touch Gou or not. He shouldn't. Only Rin can; he hugs her tighter, just to let her know only he's got her, no one is going to get to her through him. Beside him, Nagisa makes the call.
"C-coach? We kind of have a situation…can you come pick us up? Ah….Do you have something larger than the delivery bike..?"
A/N: Random Facts about this story/chapter:
SeiGou is my OTP, like I adore this ship. I really wanted to write a story for them, but I also love Rin and Gou's interactions; nothing made me angrier in that show than the fact Rin never texted Gou back. So, combining those two dynamics I wanted to cover, Rin and Gou's rocky relationship and the forming of a relationship between Seijuro and Gou, I came up with this story! Hopefully this story will cover both the mending relationship of Gou and Rin and a developing one for Gou and Seijuro!
I have no idea what Seijuro's swimmnig event is, and go through the whole story without ever mentioning it by name. I always assumed he did a more distance swim, because to me that makes more sense how he got such a great lead against his opponents at that first competition; to avoid inaccuracy, I just avoided clarifying. That said, I think he goes ahead and makes Nationals-record breaking swim? Plausible enough to me :p
Seijuro didn't have much of a POV in this chapter, but he definitely gets more in later chapters. I think Haru is the hardest character of the cast to write, so don't expect much out of him ever. I'm sorry. Honestly, I think Rin is least OOC in this chapter, because in later chapters I feel like he just falls apart-I'll try to fix that. Gou also seems OOC...Mikoshiba, too...they're all pretty OOC, alright, I'm sorry! This chapter is the beginning of, obviously, the two relationships most explored in this fic-Gou and Seijuro comnig together, and Gou and Rin falling apart :p
Kent is an OC (I hate writing in OCs, but the source of conflict in this fic needed an established catalyst of an antagonist so I'm sorry to those of you like me who dislike stories with OCs...) he certainly will return, but hopefully his part in the story isn't so great that it deflects from the established canon characters!
Originally this story was going to be one really long one shot, but I decided to divide it into chapters corresponding to the songs from the afore-mentioned album this fic is titled after, so I drew out the story a bit and hopefully it won't drag on so bad? I have no intention of keeping chapters waiting-Other fics beckon, so the rest of this story may get posted all at once, or over the course of a few short days. No sense dragging it out for a month!
Hope you enjoyed reading this! Sorry!