jc: and i am dim duddly back with another chapter of fear of free! you asked for it, now you got it

animepup: whts up with you? talking like a talk show host.

jc:...nothing satisfies you


RECAP:

"...If Haru feels that way...Then I will try my best as well," Sora shows a ghost of a smile before letting go.

"Eh!? Really!? Yay!" Nagisa cheers and swings Rei around with him.

"Sora..." She turns around to face both Makoto and Haruka.

"Good luck..."


"Kobayashi! You need to keep on kicking!" Coach Sasabe yells at her in the water. She raises her head and looks at him directly.

"...Shut. The. Hell. Up..." She says before climbing out of the water and tripped. She got up again and started to drink some water.

"Kobayashi, how have you been training these boys? They're doing it all wrong," Sasabe sighs while running a hand through his hair. He looks at Sora who is still drinking her water through a straw and staring at Sasabe blankly.

"...I never taught them...I agreed to be coach because they forced me into it," He sweatdrops at her proclamation and watches her as she threw the empty bottle and straw into the trash can before jumping into the water again.


"...So hot..." Sora complains lying down on the ground.

"S-Sora!? Are you ok!?" Makoto yells in worry.

"...I feel like I'm slowly melting," She responds airily.

"Ah don't be like that! This is the best food for swimmers!" Sasabe laughs while serving out bowls

"..I'm going to cry but my tears have evaporated from this heat..." Sora crawls and sat herself up next to Haruka and Makoto.

"I thought you liked heat," Haru looks at her.

"...I do...But not this hot," Sora responds before taking a bite of crab.


Sora lit up 3 sparklers at once and started to twirl them in her hands.

"Woah! How are you doing that!" Nagisa runs up to Sora and watches as she twirls the sparklers in her hand.

"Hm?...Oh...Back in China we would do fireworks all the time and I guess I developed this over time," Sora responds while leaning on her other arm. The sparklers light up her face and her eyes.

"Hey! Look what I found!" Gou yelled out and startled, Sora messed up on spinning and the sparklers hit her skin.

"Ow," She winces and drops the sparklers on the ground.

"Sora-kun! Are you alright-" She cuts Nagisa off by putting a finger up to her lips.

"...I'm ok...Don't make a fuss over nothing," She smiles slightly before patting Nagisa's head and heading over to Gou who has a photo book.

"Who's that little boy with yellow eyes?" Miss Ama points at the little figure posing but not smiling.

"...That would be me Miss Ama..." Sora mumbles. She looks shocked for a second before smiling.

"Ah, Nanase-kun and Kobayashi-chan look so mature back then as well," Miss Ama cooed.

"You're supposed to smile for pictures," Sasabe sighs.

"...I don't know how to smile," Sora responds with a shrug.

"Liar! You smile a lot more now than before!" Nagisa points at Sora accusingly.

"...Well I got to see you all again...Why wouldn't I smile more now..." Sora pouts slightly.

'Cute' Everyone thought in their heads before looking at the photo book again.

"Ah! What is onii-chan doing to Sora in this photo!" Gou pointed at one photo where Rin was kissing Sora on the cheek while her face voiced a mixture between shock, 'what the heck is he doing' and 'do not want'.

"...Pervert," Sora mumbles looking away.

"Come to think of it, Matuoka would always feel Kobayashi's ches-" Sasabe stops talking when he sees Sora glare at him.

"...Finish that sentence..I dare you...I promise that you'll be having fun in the hospital tomorrow," Sasabe gulps before chuckling nervously.

"Hee-hee, Sora-kun really liked to make weird poses in photos," Nagisa giggles thankfully breaking the awkwardness.

"Heh, I guess that makes up for her not smiling," Sasabe chuckles.

"...Stop calling me Sora-kun..."


Walking home, Rei demanded an answer to what is their connection to Rin. Haruka decides to answer it. In the middle of explaining how Rin came back in their first year of Middle school, Haru adds in.

"Sora and I were walking home when we see Rin and he wanted to race me. He saw Sora and laughed, 'still a tomboy aren't you?'. He then reaches out to feel her flat-"

"..Haru...As much as I love you man, I'm going to murder you if you keep on talking about that,"

"...Sorry,"

After finishing the explanation, Nagisa said that he never heard of that story before, Makoto says nothing.

"...Haru told me to keep it a secret..." Sora explains while looking down.


Next day, Rei wasn't around for practice. Sasabe tells them to go check up on Rei so they all went. While bickering and talking with each other, some calls out,

"Sora-nee~" Sora and the others look at each other.

"...Sora-?"

"-nee?" Sora whips around and her eyes widen.

"R-Ryuu!" She exclaims and then a little boy comes flying and clinging onto Sora.

"Tee-hee~" The little boy giggles at his sisters reaction.

"Ryuu!?" Everyone is shocked in surprise. Ryuu was a spitting image of Sora when she still looked like a boy. The difference was that this little boy was a lot more energetic and had more of a honey amber color hue to his eyes instead of cold gold like Sora's.

"Eh!? Did onee-chan get a boyfriend without telling me again?!" Ryuu whines pitifully while hugging Sora closer. 'Again?' Makoto thought and everyone sweatdrops. Sora shakes her head and pried him off her before crouching down to Ryuu's level.

"Ryuu...I don't have a new boyfriend...This is Makoto...Remember? That very feminine motherly little boy, you remember him right?" Sora stifles a snicker when Makoto yells 'hey!' in the background.

"Ohhhh..." Ryuu then marches right up to Makoto.

"Are you sure you don't like my nee-chan? She is really pretty," Ryuu eyes Makoto suspiciously.

"O-O-Of-"

"...Of course he doesn't Ryuu," Sora cuts in and ruffles Ryuu's hair.

"...He's gay for Haru," She adds in.

"Sora!"

"Ohh, so he's a rainbow?"

"Yup,"

"That's not true!" Makoto yells frustrated by the two siblings. Haru glares daggers at her. The two hold back a giggle at Makoto's frustration.

"...Ah...I'm sorry. Ryuu, apologize to Makoto,"

"I'm sooorrryyyy," Ryuu says loudly. Makoto sighs but smiles tiredly.

"...Remember Haruka? The boy who's in love with water,"

"Oh! The boy that I saw kissing water once!" Ryuu yells in realization and everyone looked at Haru who looked away.

"...Ok then...This is Nagisa," She gestures to Nagisa who waves cheerfully.

"Nice to meet you Nagisa!" Ryuu grins and Sora smacks him lightly on the head.

"Ow!"

"...He's your elder, so you call him, Nagisa-san or Nagisa-kun," Sora looks down at Ryuu with a stern look.

"Eh!? But Nagisa is such a girl name! Can't I call him Nagisa-chan?" Sora sighs and shakes her head.

"...Ryuu, can you play over there for a bit?...I need to talk to Makoto for a sec,"

"Ok!" Ryuu runs off to the park Sora points at and immediately goes on a swing.

"...Can you guys watch over him?" She asks Nagisa and Haru who nod. Haruka watches Makoto and Sora as they talk though.

"Makoto..." Sora then bows down.

"E-Eh!? S-Sora!?"

...I beg of you...Please let Ryuu stay at your house...My uncle...He's at home," Sora mutters and Makoto understands.

"Sora...You don't need to be this formal...We've been friends since forever. Of course he can stay at my house. My mom would be more than happy to let him stay and I'm sure Ren and Ran would like him too," Makoto slowly raises Sora's face and they stare at each other for a moment when Ryuu cuts in.

"Onee-chan! Look at me!" Ryuu waves while standing on the swing set and Sora sighs.

"Ryuu...That's dangerous,"


After picking out a gift, the gang heads towards Rei's house and Sora holds onto Ryuu's hand so he doesn't escape and create havoc. Entering the house, Ryuu immediately points at Rei,

"It's megane man!" He yells and everyone sweatdrops.

"...I'm sorry...He doesn't seem to like people with glasses," Sora sighs as Ryuu clutches Sora's shirt and hides behind her. They all sat down and talked when Nagisa shoves melon bread into Haru's mouth and Rei runs to go get a drink.

"...Pull the damn bread out of his mouth first..." Sora sighs before gently prying the bread out of Haruka's mouth.

"...Dumbass," She mumbles.


The day for Regionals come and the gang all take the bus to where it's held.

"...Please look after my brother," Sora bows towards Gou.

"Ryuu..." Sora turns to him and crouches down.

"...If I hear one complaint about you being bad...You know what will happen," Sora says while pinching Ryuu's cheek. Ryuu nods hurriedly and then she gets onto the bus. After arriving and a bit if sight seeing and Sora running for her life away from an army of stray cats who were strangely attracted to her. They all arrive at the motel they were staying at. Once all settled down, they go out for dinner.

"...Um..." Sora looks at the menu intensely.

"Sora? Do you know what your gonna order?" Makoto looks at her.

"...I don't have that much money on me..." She mumbles.

"Ah, don't worry, I can pay for you," Makoto smiles.

"...I can't have you do that-"

"Please Sora, it's the least I can do,"

"...Ok then...I'll have what he's having," Sora points at Makoto.


Later that night when Haruka, Rei and Nagisa were all gone leaving only Makoto in his room. A knock came from his door. He answered it and saw Sora holding onto her pillow.

"...Can I sleep here tonight?...It's scary being alone..." She looks away and then Makoto stares at her dumbstruck for a moment before opening the door wide welcoming her in.

"...Where's Haru?" She asks when coming in.

"He went out for a run," Makoto yawns while getting onto bed.

"Ah...Thank you Makoto," Sora yawns as she joins Makoto in his bed and snuggled closer to him.

"Sora?" Makoto looks at her surprised when she grips onto his shirt tightly.

"...Ah..I'm sorry...It's just that...When I'm alone in the dark...I'm afraid that my uncle would come in and start being violent again," Sora sniffles and hides her face in his chest. Makoto is surprised by her sudden confession but he quickly recovers and then runs his fingers through her long hair,

"Don't worry, I'm right here. Haru, Nagisa, Rei, we're all here for you..." He whispers soothingly.

"Mako...I...You..." Sora's grip suddenly slacks and then Makoto watches her sleep peacefully.

"Goodnight Sora,"


Haru walks back into his room and is surprised at the sight of Makoto and Sora sleeping together. With a shrug, Haruka goes and falls asleep as well.


In the morning, Sora wakes up groggily but feels pressure from the front and back and arms around her waist. After blinking a few times, she sees Makoto still sleeping peacefully. She then turns her head slightly to see Haruka sleeping peacefully as well. Haru's head was on her back while Makoto's face was buried in Sora's chest and both were hugging her waist.

"Mako-chan! Haru-chan! Time to wake up! We have the big race tod-" The door bursts open with Nagisa yelling until he saw the three of them on the bed. The sound of the door opening was enough to wake both Makoto and Haruka up.

"...This isn't what it looks like Nagisa-"

"You aren't the same Sora-kun anymore!" Nagisa yells before running out. By now Makoto and Haruka are fully awake and heard what Nagisa said They both look up to see the position that they are in and both jump off.

"A-Ah! Sorry Sora!" Makoto starts to stutter.

"..." Haru doesn't say a thing but he starts to change.

"...Makoto...It's fine...Stop apologizing," Sora tries to calm the crying Makoto down.


"...And that's what happened," Sora explains to Nagisa and then he nods.

"Ohhhh ok! So Sora-kun is still pure!"

"...Stop calling me Sora-kun,"

"Next time you should just come to my room!"

"What are you saying Nagisa!"


At the pool area Sora is pummeled onto the ground.

"Onee-chan~!"

"R-Ryuu...Stop doing that, I'm going to break my back if this keeps up," Sora sighs but pats his head lovingly.

They all take their seats and watch as Rin struggle to swim. That's when Haruka stands up to go find Rin and everyone follows in pursuit. They see Rin have his tantrum and then Rei tells them about his visit with Rin.

"...There's only one logical solution to this problem," Rei says pushing up his glasses.

"...Rei..." Sora looks at him with slight shock. They then all go find Rin to make him join Iwatobi's swim relay.


The relay ends with Iwatobi winning, but disqualified for having another team member in their group. They meet Sora inside who was changed to compete in her race.

"..." She steps up to all of them without any emotion on her face and they all stare at her nervously.

"...Congratulations," She smiles and they all brighten before hugging her. The laughing and cheering is soon interrupted by someone.

"Well lookie who we have right here. Nice to see you again, Kobayashi,"

TBC


jc: and that's the end of this chapter!

animepup: i wonder who it was that called out her name!

jc: find out next time!

Animepup1599 and MangaluverJC out~