Chapter 3
Kaori stood quietly in the front lobby of the newly reconstructed swim club; it was filled with little kids all over the place, wearing rubber tubes and colorful swimsuits. She smiled at the sight. It was an abundance of cuteness. She was just watching an adorable little boy struggle to blow up his inflatable tube, when someone called out to her.
"Kaori-senpai!"
Kaori turned and smiled. "Hello, Kou-chan! Are you here with the Iwatobi swim club?"
Kou nodded, gesturing towards the four boys who were waiting nearby. They were all looking at their watches, wondering why the other relay team hadn't shown up yet. Gou beamed at Kaori. "Yep! Are you here to watch us? We're glad to have you cheer! After all, you're the one who helped us get the budget increase for our pool approved, President!"
"They would have increased your budget with or without me," Kaori replied with a flush. All the same, it was nice to have her hard work for the Student Council appreciated. "But I'm sorry I can't really cheer for you guys; I came here because Sousuke-kun asked me to watch him swim with Rin-kun. But I always hope Iwatobi does well!"
"Oh," Kou said, looking thoughtful. "I forgot that you used to be friends with onii-chan in elementary school. Are you and Sousuke-kun dating?"
Kaori flushed, her cheeks turning a shade to match her hair. "No, we're just childhood friends."
Kou was prevented responding by the sight of the Samezuka swim team entering the swim club. Kaori smiled and waved at Sousuke, whose teal eyes shone at the sight of her. He looked enormous next to all the small children milling around, and she couldn't resist a giggle. Rin was dragging along a boy with bright orange hair, who was yelling at him.
"You said you were taking me somewhere with cute girls!" the orange-haired boy whined.
"Shut up! There are plenty of cute girls here!" Rin scolded him.
Kaori watched in silent amusement as the orange haired boy began crying about how he'd been tricked and he'd thought there would be cute girls, and his life was completely unfair. He stopped rather abruptly, however, at the sight of Kou, who went running up to greet her brother.
"Hey Gou," Rin greeted. The orange-haired boy, however, threw Rin's arm off him and stopped, his eyes going wide as he stared at Kou in complete wonder. He gaped, flushing red as he declared that Gou was really cute. Rin frowned in irritation. He noticed Kaori walking past him to go speak to Sousuke, and grabbed her arm to stop her. Kaori was pulled back, and stared up at Rin in surprise.
"Rin-kun?" she asked with a frown, yanking her arm out of his grip. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Kaori-chan! Fancy seeing you here! Are you here to watch Sousuke swim again?" he asked cheerfully, making Kaori raise an eyebrow. Why was he suddenly being nice? She tried to walk back to Sousuke, but Rin put his arm around her shoulders in a friendly manner. He moved his head closer to her ear and lowered his voice. "Please, please, go flirt with Mikoshiba!"
"What?" Kaori hissed.
"Look, I promised him girls. It's either you or my sister and frankly, I'd rather it was you."
Kaori raised an eyebrow at him. "Flirting isn't really one of my skills."
"Come on, Kaori-chan! Look at the kid. You don't have to flirt, just give him a sweet smile and nod every few minutes. Okay?" When Kaori didn't respond, Rin nudged her. "Come on, Sousuke won't mind. Hey, Mikoshiba! Come here, let me introduce you to my friend Kaori-chan!"
Kaori sighed as the orange-haired kid diverted his attention, coming to look at Kaori and declare that she was cute as well. She forced a smile, watching Sousuke standing nearby. His teal eyes were narrowed at Haru; the two of them were having a staring match.
Kaori sighed. She should have known this would happen.
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Sousuke was silent as he dried his hair with a towel, his arms flexing slightly. Kaori stood next to him, flushing and trying not to stare at his body. He was without a doubt the most well-built man there, and she found herself unable to take her eyes away from his muscles. Or those twinkling eyes that were both kind and fierce at the same time.
"And you girls get offended when guys stare at your breasts," Sousuke muttered.
Kaori flushed and glared at him. "Baka! What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," Sousuke replied simply, stuffing the towel into his bag. He swung it lightly over his shoulder and his teal eyes looked calmly down at her blushing face. He patted her pink hair lightly with his palm. "So? What did you think of that relay?"
"You've become really amazing," Kaori said honestly, smiling at him. "No wonder you got scouted so soon, Sousuke. But I was kind of disappointed; I didn't know you were swimming the freestyle leg, I was kind of looking forward to seeing your butterfly. Is there… a reason for that?"
Sousuke frowned slightly. He should have known that Kaori would see right through him. He avoided her gaze, turning instead to look at where Rin and Mikoshiba were talking a few feet away. Sousuke's fists clenched. "I just felt like swimming freestyle."
"Because you wanted to compete with Haruka-kun."
Sousuke turned to look at Kaori sharply. "Is that so bad?"
"No, I just…" Kaori frowned, pushing her glasses up on her nose before looking up at him bravely. She couldn't keep what she was thinking inside. It was better she just said it out loud. "I hope that the reason you came back home for your last year of high school wasn't to settle petty childhood grudges, Sousuke."
She flinched at the dark look he gave her. "Is that what you think of me?"
"What? No, gomen, forget I said anything-" Kaori said quickly, but Sousuke had already walked past her and was heading for the entrance. Her heart sank as she watched his hulking figure walk away, but he stopped for a moment in the doorway, his head turning sideways to speak to her.
"Besides," he added quietly. "If I can maintain a childhood love, why can't I maintain a childhood grudge?"
Kaori was afraid to think of what that could mean.
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Kaori never thought the advice she gave him would backfire.
"Tokyo," she repeated quietly. They were sitting on a bench in the park, having gone there after the last day of middle school to have ice-cream. Kaori stared down at her melting chocolate cone. She suddenly felt sick at the sight of it, and stopped to throw it on the trash can beside her. Sousuke blinked in surprise.
"Kaori…"
"I'm fine," Kaori shook her head, forcing a smile on her face and turning to look at Sousuke. "Sousuke-kun, that's wonderful. They have a really amazing swim team which goes for national-level tournaments, right? You'll really get a chance to shine there."
Sousuke was silent. He looked down at his hands. "You won't ask me not to go?"
"Would you stay if I asked you to?" Kaori asked quietly. She looked up at him and realized that his blue-green eyes were staring at the ground dully.
"I don't know," Sousuke mumbled. His hands trembled slightly in his lap. "I think if you asked me to, I wouldn't be able to say no to you. I'm not sure right now. What I am sure of is that I love you. And if you said that you loved me back and asked me to stay, I might just do it."
Kaori froze. She turned to face him, her eyes widening behind her thick-rimmed glasses. Her mouth dropped open slightly. "Do you-do you mean that?"
Sousuke avoided her gaze. "Y-yes."
Kaori was silent for a long time. She closed her eyes, feeling her heartbeat thud in her chest, Sousuke watched her; the small girl sitting beside him with her pink hair blowing in the wind and her hands gripping the wooden bench tightly. She bit her lip, before finally looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. "You should go to Tokyo."
His heart dropped. She doesn't care. "Okay," he mumbled. He stood up quietly, hoping that she wouldn't notice the disappointment on his face. He took a deep breath, willing himself not to cry and started to walk away, when he heard pattering footsteps behind him.
"Sousuke, wait!" Kaori insisted. She grabbed his hand and forced him to turn around, tears in her eyes. "I'm not… I didn't say that you should go to Tokyo because I don't love you. Please don't think I was rejecting your confession."
"Then what were you doing?"
Kaori hesitated. Her fingers trembled as she forced herself to look at him, despite the tears brimming in her eyes. "I… I love you too. But I don't want to accept your confession if it means that you would give up on Tokyo. I could never bear knowing that I was the reason you didn't take an amazing opportunity."
Sousuke's eyes widened and he looked down at her in surprise. "I mean… that's not… I wouldn't want you to feel that way."
Kaori looked up at him. "Would you ever have asked Rin not to go to Australia?"
Sousuke shook his head. "No."
"But that's not because you didn't care about him, right?"
"I… I understand," Sousuke replied quietly. He stepped closer to her, taking his hand in hers. Kaori flushed pink, although her fingers squeezed his in return. He placed his other hand on her flushed cheek, tilting her head up to look at him. "It's not the right time, right? That's what you're trying to say? That we should wait until we've achieved our dreams?"
Kaori nodded. Her fingers felt numb in his, but she still maintained her grip. "I'm not going anywhere, Sousuke-kun. But you won't get the chance to go to an amazing school in Tokyo again. You shouldn't give that up."
"You'll stay in touch?" he asked quietly.
"I promise," Kaori replied, forcing a smile at him. "If all goes well, I'll be joining you in Tokyo in three years. If you're willing to wait for me that long, that is."
"I am," Sousuke said quickly. "I… I hope you get everything you want, Kaori."
Kaori nodded. She stood on her toes, a sudden burst of confidence overtaking her as she kissed his cheek. His skin was warm and soft under her lips, and she quickly pulled away. "Gambatte, Sousuke-kun. I hope you do well. Don't leave me waiting for nothing."
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A/N – Thank you so much for the review, LilShorty0594! Hope you enjoyed it!
