(Once again. I'm sorry I was taking so long getting the next chapter out. Give me reviews people. Reviews make me happy. They Also make me write faster. So get to it while I work on the story.)


Chapter 9 - Festivals and Feelings

"We'll mainly be running drills for now. Rei, you'll work on your kick. You'll be training to develop a faster and stronger kick. Nagisa, you'll focus on strengthening your crawl stroke. Makoto, you need to work on making your acceleration more even. Let's start warming up then!" Gou seemed excited about their training. Though, none of them seemed to have noticed her and Haruka were already at the pool. She had spotted the boy as he passed her classroom and she had managed to get out quickly enough to catch up. He did seem better then before. The relay had some effect, though now he seemed more confused then depressed.

The rest of their group seemed surprised to see Haruka pull himself out of the water. Even more so when Zuko moved to stand beside him.

"Haru! And Zuko too?"

"You were already here?" Nagisa added to Makoto. Gou hurried over to him and offered one of the towels she was holding.

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

"How long have you been swimming?" Gou seemed to be jumping into manager mode. Zuko was only partially aware of the others talking in the background as Zuko toyed with her hair. She seemed to do that a lot.

"Not very long."

"It's hot out today so I brought ice to keep everyone's drinks cold."

"I appreciate it." Haruka was talking. But he did seem to be a bit down. Maybe his swim hadn't answered his questions.

"I'm happy to see you so motivated." Zuko winced at Gou's comment. It wasn't motivation that had him here. He wanted answers. Answers that Zuko couldn't give him despite a shared love of the water. He had hoped 'asking' the water would help.

"I'm not." Gou's smiled dropped at his reply. "I was swimming because I didn't know what to do. I figured I should ask the water about matters involving the water."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, everyone's here now. Let's start practice." Makoto interrupted Gou's question. He was good at that.

"Yes, you're right. Then everyone should start by warming up." Gou called and Rei and Nagisa ran to jump into the pool. Zuko watched her two companions as Makoto gave Haru a knowing look before letting his gaze move to her and his gaze softened. She was trying her best to help Haru, even if the boy didn't quite realize that she was always there. Though she didn't get to practice for long as Gou pulled her into the dressing room and shoved a bag into her hands. Zuko almost dropped it while Gou practically bounced off the walls in her excitement.

"I know you don't have one since I went through your closet not long ago and I figured you could wear this tonight for the festival." She stated as the other redhead pulled a pale blue yukata out of the bag and unfolded it enough to see the designs. The soft tones were interrupted by little gold and red goldfish swimming diagonally up the yukata from the back of her shins up and around to her waist were they would disappear underneath a pale gold sash. Gou really had picked out a nice one for her.

"I'll give you back the money for this. I'm sure it was a bit expensive." Zuko offered and Gou smiled.

"I'd appreciate that. It was a bit more then I thought it would be, but it wasn't out of my limits. I figured if you didn't like it, I could keep it or return it." The red eyed girl twiddled her fingers and Zuko gave her a small hug. It was a nice outfit and she would wear it tonight.

"I don't know how to put it on though." Zuko frowned and Gou laughed.

"I asked Makoto if his mom might help you put it on. Just walk home with him and she can get you dressed up. There's also the sandals and a comb to go with it." The objects were in there and while the sandals were simple and generic, the comb was pretty with little blue glass beads and a pair of koi fish circled the base. Once more, Zuko thanked her and told her she would pay her back tomorrow when she could get the cash. At the moment, the few dollars she had on her would cover her expenses for anything she wanted at the festival but it wasn't enough to pay the girl back. Especially since she had left the receipt in the bag. There was an extra digit that proved that Gou had been right about it being slightly expensive. A teen with an allowance could buy it and have a little money left to spare but if Gou had simply told her the other day about getting it, Zuko would have paid for it herself and saved the girl the trouble.

The walk home with Makoto was filled by an easy silence. It was a comfortable feeling and she had a bit of fun pointing out small things, like seagulls and someone's collection of garden gnomes. Makoto was probably the easiest to get along with since he was patient and soft spoken. But Zuko didn't doubt that the boy would be hard to beat if it came down to protecting his friends.

"What does the yukata look like? I know Gou said she was picking one up for you." Makoto asked in his soft voice and she flushed slightly.

"I-Umm- You'll have to wait til I wear it to see. I'm not gonna spoil the surprise." she stated. She just didn't want to talk about the outfit she knew would be an odd first for her. She hadn't really worn many dresses or similarly feminine clothes. Her school uniform was one thing, otherwise, she preferred shorts or pants. Having grown up as the only female in an all male household had apparently taken it's toll on her fashion sense. She still wore girlish clothes, just not that girly.

Makoto's mother was endearing. She was kind and gentle as she helped Zuko fix her hair, adding the comb to it before showing her how to fold the yukata and tie the obi the correct way. And after playing round a bit with Ran, Makoto's younger sister and twin to Ren, she was finally able to go and accompany Makoto to walk to Haruka's. When she left the room, she was slightly surprised to see Nagisa there and dressed in a yukata for the festival while Makoto wore average clothes, a sack slung over his shoulder and chest to rest at his back. And when they heard the door open, the two turned to her and stared in slight shock. She was normally in street clothes, her bathing suit and the swim club jacket or her school uniform. This was a new look and she was slightly embarrassed until Nagisa almost jumped on her.

"Zuzu-chan is so cute!" he all but yelled as she pushed at him.

"Nagisa! You're gonna mess me up." She swatted at him playfully and he backed away from her. She had her shark tooth necklace hidden under the clothes but the dolphin earrings were displayed now that her hair was pinned up.

The walk the Haruka's was uneventful until they got to the boy's house. Haruka opened the door to find the two boys standing in the doorway, Zuko hidden behind Makoto's height.

"Yep, there's a summer festival for Hachiman-sama! Let's go Haru! It'll be lots of fun!" Nagisa exclaimed as he all but bounced on his feet. Haruka seemed reluctant to go.

"The shrine also hosts a festival for the god of water. We should pay a visit before regionals. If that's okay with you." Makoto added. and Haru still seemed like he might say no.

"Rei is waiting for you to join us. 'The five of us must go together or there is no point.' His words." Nagisa put in.

"Was that supposed to be a Rei impression?" Makoto asked the blonde.

"Please come Haru." Zuko asked softly and stepped up, Nagisa and Makoto shifting when they realized they had been hiding her. Pale blue met dark blue and the latter widened as they realized who it was. She knew she had never been dressed up in front of the boys before, but was it really that hard to think of her in something even somewhat classy.

"Okay. I'll go get dressed." And Makoto and Nagisa exchanged happy looks as Zuko gave each of them soft smiles.

"Zuko's sex appeal was effective!" Nagisa laughed and Zuko's smile slipped from her face as she irritably gave him a light punch to the shoulder.

"I did not!" She turned from him and crossed her arms. Nagisa hooked her arm with his once Haruka appeared in the doorway again and lead the group to meet Rei.

She found the festival interesting and only half listened to Nagisa say something to Rei and he responded back. Then Nagisa said something and she only caught the last line as she brought her attention back from looking at the lights.

"If you arrive early for a date, that's what you have to say." Zuko snickered.

"Not really Nagisa. If you show up early, you should offer her your arm and see if she wants to get started." She pointed out.

"Okay. Let's visit the shrine first." Makoto was backed up by a chorus of agreement from the rest of them.

"Squid. Squid. Squid. Candy apples. Squid." Nagisa was counting off the snack stands. Zuko couldn't help but think that there was a lot of squid. She didn't even like squid. She just never liked the taste of it. "Wow, there's squid everywhere all right. Nothing's changed."

"Just squiddy." Rei added as he pushed his glasses back on his nose. Zuko laughed for a second.

"Squiddy isn't a word, Rei." she pointed out and the boy flushed as she teased him about improper grammar.

"So where should we start?" Nagisa asked them.

"Squid Catching Haven is about to start." Makoto pointed in the direction of the event. Though Zuko wondered what kind of event it would be.

"What kind of weird event is that? And why are you looking at me?" Rei asked, saving Zuko from having to ask them herself. Even though it started a sort of joking argument between them she followed the two and glanced back to see if the others were following. She was enjoying herself as she watched the men standing in the pool of water, trying to catch little squids with their hands. It didn't take long for Gou and her friend to find them.

"You both look cute." Makoto smiled and the two gave happy squeals.

"You mean just our yukata?" Gou's friend asked almost excitedly. Zuko couldn't remember her name. They had only been introduced once back when she first joined the club. It was brief and she hadn't seen or talked to the girl at all afterward.

"Not exactly." Makoto replied and the others began wondering about getting something to eat. Zuko fidgeted. She didn't like squid very much and was more likely to wander off to find something she did like.

"Well, we'll be watching the Squid Calligraphy Contest." Gou stated and she and her friend parted from the group as Nagisa waved with a cheerful "Okay Bye!"

"What do you guys want to eat?" Makoto asked meeting everyone's gaze one at a time as if he were taking their order.

"We have to start with fried squid!" Nagisa sounded excited about it while the sound of it make Zuko give him a weird look.

"I want squid tempura." Rei added his own thoughts to the wish list and Zuko's weird looks turned into a slight glare. She really wasn't liking this list.

"Oh I could go for some paella." Nagisa added to it again. Haru and Makoto didn't seem to want to add to the growing list and Zuko silently thanked them.

"Yeah. Let's go through the stalls first." Zuko almost paled. The stalls were nothing but squid, games and candy. She didn't feel like eating a ton of candy, nor did she like the tentacled critters. The games sounded fun, but she was actually starting to get a little hungry so she decided to part until she found something not candy or squid.

"Hey guys. I'm gonna go explore a bit by myself. I have my phone and I'll text you in a little while so we can meet back up." She pointed in the opposite direction the others were headed. Which happened to be the direction the temple was in.

"Is something up?" Nagisa seemed more curious then ever.

"Not really. I'm not a big fan of eating squid. So I'm gonna see if I can find somewhere that has something not squid or sweets. I was planning to call when I found something. That way you guys can have fun with the squid without worrying about me not eating anything."

"Are you sure you'll be alright on your own? Maybe you could still catch up to Gou?" Makoto stood straighter, lifting his head a bit to see over the crowds, looking for Gou and her friend when Zuko shot him down.

"They left already. I don't plan to be long anyway. I'll see you guys in bit then." She waved them off as she wandered in the direction of the temple. So many people. Games and laughing kids and plenty of food stands. After just a few short minutes she felt like she had gotten lost. Upon finding a wall of lanterns up the temple steps from her, she used them to reorient herself. Though once she approached them, she almost regretted it. Rin and Nitori were there, descending the steps. Rin had spotted her before she dart back into the crowds and he closed the distance. Taking her arm, he lead her into the crowd with Nitori struggling to keep up.

"I'm not mad you know." She asked and stopped pulling her along, turning to face her. He looked confused. Hadn't he been trying to take her somewhere they could talk? She didn't know.

"Why?" It seemed that he still didn't get it.

"You want to know why I pushed you back then?" He nodded at her and she stepped over to a game, asking Nitori if he would win her a stuffed toy while they talked.

"I was mad because you made Haruka sad. Not just sad. But depressed. He was beating himself up and he didn't even know why. You made him feel like he had to care about winning when he really didn't need to. And what you said made him feel conflicted. And from the look on your own face, I'm willing to bet that that relay has you second guessing yourself too. Those boys are amazing together. And I'm glad I get to stand beside them, even if my gender keeps me from entering a relay with them." She was being completely honest. She did let her mind wander and sometimes, her quiet attitude seemed to let her notice things that people don't pick up on right away. Like Makoto liked to state the obvious. Nagisa would be a typical blonde sometimes and be quite intelligent on other terms. Rei would try to be the smart one when he makes a few observations that were either obvious or not completely right. And Haru. He was probably gentlest, and most honest person she had met. He was quiet but when he spoke, everyone seemed to want to hear him. And Rin. He didn't seem to even notice that he was fighting against something else. Not her teammates. He had made Haruka a scapegoat and when he got rid of his scapegoat, he didn't know who he was really fighting. It was plastered on his face during the medley. Every emotion, every thought, had been broadcast for her to see from her place in the stands.

"I'm sorry I pushed you. But you were kind of standing right in the line of fire and I did really care. All I knew was that my friend was hurting." Nitori had won a small bear and handed it off to her. Thanking the boy, she let the taller boy lead the two of them into the crowds once more. Nitori liked to talked. And he really seemed to look up to Rin as an older classmate. He had also made sure to include Zuko as often as he could. When Rin turned around all of a sudden and stopped.

"Is something wrong?" Nitori asked as Zuko gave the man Rin had looked at a weird look. She could have sworn Rei was wearing that same outfit. Oh, well. He would be with the others, not here wearing a stupid hero mask.

"No, nothing's wrong." Rin reached back to scratch his head for a moment as the turned back around to continue their walk. Her phone dinged as they walked and she reached into the fold in her obi where she had stashed it. She immediately closed the text from Rei asking why she was with Rin. Quickly she sent a reply so latter wouldn't notice the message. So it was Rei back at the mask stand.

I ran into him while I was looking around and decided to talk to him. Why are you following us?

She didn't put the phone away as she expected a swift answer. And it came just as quick as she thought.

Haru can't meet with Rin. He might not do the relay. Could you head back to Haru and Makoto. Haru wants to look for you and if he does, he will meet up with Rin.

So that was why he was tiptoeing around the place. She nodded at her phone before turning to the two boys beside her.

"Hey Rin. My brother is looking for me so I have to go meet him. I'll see you two later, I guess." She turned from them when a tug on her sleeve turned her back around and Rin's face was in hers, their lips meeting for a brief second before he pulled away.

"I'll see you later Zuko." He walked off ignoring Nitori's questions about his movement. She spotted Rei as she walked back and he quickly whispered to her that Haru and Makoto were at the games back by the temple.

"I know you saw that. Don't tell anyone or else I really will stuff you in a fish tail. Head first." She warned with a false threat, but the tone of her warning had Rei pushing his glasses back nervously as he shuffled off after Rin. She didn't know what was going on anymore. On her way back, she found a stand selling fries and she bought some, happily eating as she spotted the others at a fish scooping game.

"Win a prize for me yet?" She joked as she approached, bear tucked under one arm while she held the packet of fries. Haru glanced up at her before scooping up more fish. She watched from where she stood beside Nagisa who kept giving her looks. She pulled his phone from his hand and opened it, showing the messaging screen was still open. Rei hadn't said anything about the kiss but he did say she had been with Rin when he found them. She gave Nagisa a hard stare as he took back his phone and he gave her a weird nervous laugh before she knelt down between Haruka and Makoto to play the game. She didn't get enough fish for a prize but Haru had enough for a large one, picked the large, bug eyed eel since the other choices were a bug eyed squid or a bug eyed octopus. Makoto won a prize as well but it wasn't big. It was a small puppy plushy.

Haru held the eel out to her and she stared at it for a moment before taking the toy with a smile. Turning, she took a glance at Nagisa who was on his phone while they picked out candy apples. Though he blew his own cover.

"Ehh? Then Rin could still be-!"

What are you up to?" Haruka asked as he looked at the boy who was crouched down. Nagisa flinched before turning to them.

"Did you hear that Haru?" he asked nervously.

"Rin is here?" Zuko watched Haruka's expression closely. She couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Uh-huh." Nagisa confirmed it.

"Oh." Haru's pause had her wanting to twitch. Would he go after Rin?

"It's okay. Tell Rei to come back." She sighed as Nagisa ran off to find Rei. Haru took her hand, jolting her out of her thoughts as he lead them up to the top of the hill by the temple, overlooking the festival. Makoto offered to buy drinks and left them. Haruka leaned against the railing looking out while she sat on the bench a few feet behind him.

"Thank you Zuko." She looked up from the plushies she was holding to meet his eyes since he turned his head to look back at her. "For staying by me all this time." Zuko nodded and smiled before sitting her prizes on the bench and joining him at the rail.

"I stayed because I wanted to Haruka." Makoto then turned up with drinks and she retreated back to the bench. Makoto had a look as if he wanted to talk to Haru, and just Haru. She didn't want to interfere so she fiddled with her phone while faintly listening to them. It was mostly just a recap of what Haruka had been telling her before.

"It made me just as happy."

"Haru!" Makoto looked excited.

"Haru! Did you really mean that?" Nagisa called from the arch over the stairs with Rei leaning against it.

"When did you guys get here?" Makoto asked in surprise.

"You have your answer Haruka." Rei smiled as he moved behind Nagisa and crossing his arms.

"I was also happy watching you boys in the relay. I was proud to call you my team." Zuko added from her spot on the bench.

"Nagisa. Rei. Makoto. Zuko. I want to swim in the relay. I want to swim with you guys. Again."

"We should head home." Makoto stated as Zuko stood.

"No. One more thing..." Haruka stated and he waited for Zuko to come up beside him before leading the group back to a goldfish game. After a moment, he had scooped out five colorful goldfish and was holding the bag.

"I'm impressed Haruka." Rei stated as Makoto held the fish.

"I can really have these?"

"You're the only one most likely to take care of them." Nagisa added and Zuko wasn't about to tell them about the fish tank in her room.

They proceeded to name them after each other and she smiled as she watched them. Her team. Her friends.