Hello! So this is the new chapter! So things are kinda starting to get serious, both in my story and in the anime. (poor Sousou ... :()

A little bit of warning - you may not like this chapter a lot, since I've left a lot of things unclear. But it will tie in with future chapters, so you'll just have to be patient.

I'll try to post a new chapter before the next episode, but I can't promise anything.

Reviews are welcome, like always!

Edit - When someone speaks in English, their speech will be in bold and italics (like this)

Chapter 10

"Eeeh? You've started helping Goro-chan?" Nagisa exclaimed. He looked at Makoto with a somewhat accusing expression and then turned to Haru. "Haru-chan, did you know about that?"

"I hadn't heard." Haru replied with a passive voice, looking away from the others.

Makoto smiled gently as he started to explain himself. I was barely listening to him while putting my swimsuit on. He seemed happy, much happier than he had been in some time now, so I found no need to question a decision that made my friend so content and didn't interfere with his training. Besides, I had other things on my mind right now.

"We should all go and help Goro-chan!" Nagisa chirped, jumping up and down in one place.

"But Nagisa, you all have other things to focus on, don't you?"

"Ah … right." His smiled faded a bit and he tapped his chin. "Before we worry about others, we should worry about ourselves, huh? I need to be able to manage both swimming and studying at the same time. I promised my parents that I'd do that." He frowned at that – obviously he wouldn't have enough free time to go help out at the swim club.

"And I need to improve my swimming." Rei added, adjusting his glasses.

"I could help out." I said shrugging. "I didn't qualify, so I could spare some of my time. Besides, I owe it to coach Sasabe – he allowed me to go to his swim club to practice when it was still too cold to use our pool. I haven't forgotten that." I smiled. "Of course, I won't do well if I try coaching, but I'm sure that there are other things I could do. I could help clean the place after practice."

Makoto looked hesitant for a second. He glanced at Nagisa and Rei, who had started bickering about something, then at Haru who stared back at him with an expressionless face. They often did that – whenever Makoto found himself in some sort of a conundrum, he'd always look at Haru. They wouldn't exchange a single word, but somehow Makoto always seemed to have made up his mind after that. It was like some sort of magic.

A few seconds later, Makoto looked away from Haru. He smiled and gave me a nod.

"Alright. I'll take you with me next time." He said.

"Thanks, Makoto-kun." I smiled as well.

This is just the kind of distraction I need. I don't want to think about anything right now …

"Ah, Angel-kun, can you please go and check the locker rooms?" Coach Sasabe asked me after the group that he was coaching had left. "Last time one of the kids had forgotten his house key there."

"Oh, I already checked. No things left behind this time. I just need to clean it up after all the kids have left." I replied with a smile.

"Good." He smiled and returned to the pool area.

It had been a few days since I started helping out at the swim club. It was actually kind of fun, even though most of my tasks were cleaning up after the groups.

Speaking of the kids, I was pleasantly surprised to see how many had signed up for swimming lessons. Makoto wasn't the only one who was coaching, there were at least three other people beside him – and from what I had heard, coach Sasabe was looking to hire another one.

Now that practice was over, almost all of the kids had left. Only one boy remained in the entrance hall. Makoto was talking to him – the boy was in the group that he was coaching. He was a little fellow, shorter than the other children, with messy pink hair. I had watched my friend coach a few times, when I didn't have so much work, and I had noticed that this kid always looked sad. I thought that maybe he was just shy and needed some time to get used to his group and coach. Apparently, Makoto had noticed his behaviour too, because he was speaking with him with that same gentle expression he always had on when he was encouraging me about my swimming.

I was quite impressed with Makoto. He was not only a good coach, but he was also very nice with the kids in his group. They all loved him! Even now, as he was talking to the boy, he was kneeling down so that they could be on the same eye level. Not many people did that.

He'd actually make a great coach. I wonder if he's thought about that.

I walked to them and gave them a warm smile.

"Hello. How was swimming today?"

"It was fine. Everyone did very well, including Hayato-kun." He gave the boy a huge smile, but that only made Hayato look even sadder. He looked down at his feet.

I felt kind of bad for the little boy. He seemed really shy and I was almost certain that he didn't want to be here. Maybe his parents had forced him to take swimming classes? I remembered that I had been pretty excited to attend swimming lessons when I was a little kid, mainly because I got to meet a lot of new people there.

Suddenly Hayato's face lit up and he ran to the front door, greeting the tall boy that had just entered with a cheerful cry.

"Big brother!"

I looked at the newly-arrived with interest. He looked a lot like his younger sibling – except that he was much taller, of course! – but he seemed to be the exact opposite of the quiet and shy Hayato. He appeared to be quite out-going and charismatic. I thought that he was the sort of person who could get along with anyone. He kind of reminded me of my best friend back in my home town.

"Eh?" I turned around, only to see that Makoto had straightened up and was looking at the other wide-eyed. "Kisumi?"

For a second, I thought that he had said "kiss me" and blinked in shock. I had no idea why, but I immediately wondered how Haru would have reacted if he had heard him say that to this guy.

"Shigino Kisumi?"

The guy, Kisumi apparently, looked at Makoto with a raised eyebrow. He suddenly grinned, his face lighting up.

"Makoto? Is that you?" He ran to him. "Oh man, I haven't seen you since middle school!"

Ohhh … So they know each other!

"Yeah." Makoto agreed. Kisumi looked at me, smiling brightly and I blushed a bit. He seemed almost too dazzling to be real. "Oh, this is Angel. He is in my school's swim club." Makoto introduced me.

"Nice to meet you!"

"Same here." I replied. "Ah, sorry, but I need to go and clean the locker room."

"Alright. See you later." Makoto waved at me.

The locker room was messy – like it always was at the end of the day. I didn't mind doing some physical work right now, though. It helped me forget my own worries.

I wonder if I should talk to someone about it? Makoto would surely understand … But then again, this may turn out to be nothing. I shouldn't make my friends worry until I'm certain that there is actually something to worry about.

It took me about half an hour to finish my task. When I was done, I looked up and saw that Makoto was standing in the doorway. He was waiting for me to finish so that we could walk home together, like we had done in the past several days.

"Do you need any help?" He asked.

"Nah, I'm finished here." I smiled. "I'll just go change my clothes and we can go."

As we were walking down the street, I turned to look at Makoto. He was quiet and was walking with his head hung low. Usually he was chattering about the kids in his group, telling me how much they were improving with a huge smile on his face.

"Hey, Makoto-kun … Did something happen?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" He looked at me slightly surprised.

"Well … you look like there's something on your mind." I pointed out.

"I was just thinking about Hayato-kun. He said that he hated swimming."

"Oh …" I blinked. "Well … If he doesn't like swimming he shouldn't be forced to swim, right? It's simple." I couldn't really understand why Makoto was thinking so much about this.

Did he think that Hayato didn't like swimming because of the way he coached? It certainly seemed like something that Makoto would do. I remembered how guilty he felt when I got sunburnt the week before the tournament, even though it had been my decision to practice all day.

"Maybe you should talk to Hayato's older brother? You seem to know him very well." I suggested.

"Ah, yes, I do. Kisumi, Haru and I went to the same middle school." He nodded. "I will talk to him about it. Maybe he will know why Hayato-kun hates swimming."

"Alright." I smiled. "By the way, you're doing a really good job with coaching, Makoto-kun. You are really good with kids too!"

"Eh? You think so?" He blushed. "W-well … I guess I have some experience from babysitting Ran and Ren …"

"It's not just that, though." I said. "You seem to have a knack for it. And I can tell that you like it – you've been happier than ever since you started coaching these kids!"

"Ehhh?! I have?"

"Yeah!" I nodded. "You know, you were pretty glum since the tournament. You were so quiet … Even Haru was worried about you! He called me to ask if I knew what was wrong with you."

"What? He did?" He asked, gaping at me.

"Yeah! And he called at the most awkward time, right when Sousuke and I were- Ow …" I clasped a hand over my mouth and blushed brightly, embarrassed by the rather stupid slip-up that I had made.

Makoto looked at me wide-eyed. He surely must have heard me saying Sousuke's name. Truth be told, I didn't have a problem with him knowing … but I wasn't certain if I should have said anything. Sousuke and I hadn't talked about what was going on between us yet and to top it all, I had no idea what my friends thought about Sousuke. He wasn't the friendliest person in the world and from what I knew, he had made no attempt to become closer with Makoto and the others.

Why do things have to be so complicated with my crush?

"So you and Yamazaki-kun are pretty close, huh?" Makoto asked, giving me a gentle smile. He obviously didn't find anything suspicious, or more like he didn't show that he had.

"I g-guess you could say that …" I muttered, blushing as I recalled that we had basically spent a whole night making out. "He's a nice guy, really." I added defensively.

"I'm sure he is." Makoto smiled. "I don't think we've ever talked, to be honest. But he's a good swimmer."

"Yes, he is!" I nodded, smiling widely. "He's one of the fastest swimmers I've ever seen and his form is so professional! I'm pretty sure that he could swim in the Olympics after he graduates!"

Makoto chuckled and I realized a little too late that I had let my enthusiasm get the better of me. I blushed even more and muttered something that even I couldn't understand, looking down at my feet in embarrassment.

"So you like him that much, huh?" He asked, smiling happily.

"Y-yeah …" I nodded. "Um … could you please not tell the others? I'm still kinda figuring things out with Sousuke …"

It wasn't a lie. We had kissed, true, but even now I still wasn't sure what kind of a relationship we had. After he had spent the night at my place, Sousuke had left before I woke up, leaving me a note in which he thanked me and then explained that he had to go back to Samezuka and that he didn't want to wake me up. I hadn't heard from him since then and I had to admit that I missed him more than I thought I would.

I want to see him so badly right now. Just a little glimpse would be enough … I really need him to cheer me up.

"I understand." Makoto smiled. "I promise I'll keep quiet about this."

"Thanks." I sighed in relief. I knew that I could trust Makoto to keep my secret.

When I arrived home and stepped inside my house, I immediately heard my parents whispering in the kitchen. I sighed. It had been like this for the past few days. I would often stumble upon my parents whispering to each other. They were hiding something from me, that was for sure! I didn't know what they were discussing so much, but I had noticed that my mother was moodier than usual, which was weird because she was normally a very cheerful person. However, every time I asked them if something was wrong, both my parents would give me a fake smile and insist that everything was alright. I had a faint suspicion what they kept talking about though and it made me feel a sharp pain in the pit of my stomach.

Suddenly the kitchen door opened and my mother walked out. She halted when she saw me, exclaiming in surprise.

"Oh, sweetie, you're home already?" She asked.

"I always come home around this time." I replied. I was too tired to question her again, so I just sighed and headed to my room.

"Dinner will be ready soon." She called out after me.

I waved my hand to let her know that I had heard her and went into my room. I plopped on my bed, hugging my pillow, and stared at the poster above my bed. It was actually just a large picture of a waterfall that Haru had given me. He had told me that if I watch it for long enough, I'd get to know the water better – whatever that meant.

To be honest, I think if Haru wasn't such a good swimmer he probably would have been sent to a psychiatrist by now because of his obsession with water…

I sighed and rolled over. I had the terrible, nagging feeling that something bad was going to happen. My stomach was aching – I always got a stomach-ache during the worst times of my life. I got one before my pet rabbit died; I got one before dad got into a car crash (he wasn't hurt seriously, thankfully) and I've been having one for the past week. And I was pretty sure that whatever was going to happen had something to do with my parents and their unusual behaviour.

Why can't they just tell me what's going on? Do they think I'm not grown-up enough to tell me important things? Besides, if I'm right about what they keep talking about, they should tell me! If they want us to go back to Wales, I deserve to know that and be a part of the discussion.

PS - I'm so sorry that there's no Sousuke here. I tried to write in a scene where Angel calls him and they talk, but it seemed too awkward so I decided to leave him out of this chapter.

So now Makoto knows ... What will happen next?