I forgot to mention last chapter that the nocturnal zoo is a real thing. The first one ever created is in Sweden and it sounds amazing! Seriously, check it out. I know where my next vacation is going to be!
Few things real quickly:
- I went through and cleaned up Chapter 8 and 9, and will likely touch on the other chapters as well. Nothing that requires a reread but I added some detail and dialogue where I felt it was lacking and fixed a few typos and grammatical errors. If you see any, please let me know.
- I am extremely bad about making romances take a long time to develop so heavy romance isn't likely to happen until late into this fic. If you're reading this strictly for the romance aspect you're likely going to be disappointed and frustrated. I plan to put a warning at the start but haven't gotten around to it yet. So I am sorry, please bear with me, you lovely people you.
It was late when they got back to the lodges, nearly midnight. Despite the late hour and the fact she had gotten up early, Gou found herself unable to go to sleep right away. Maybe it was the excitement they had experienced going about the zoo still coursing through her or she was so tired she had passed tired and had given herself a second wind. Whatever the reason she was restless. If she tried to go to sleep she would just toss and turn in the bed, and likely only be a disturbance for Amakata. Gou wasn't entirely sure what the literature teacher did all day but Amakata wouldn't be very appreciative if Gou went in there and caused a ruckus.
Maybe it's because I switch where I sleep so often. The frequent changing of her surroundings must be affecting her. She had been at Mikoshiba's place for six days and seven nights, and one of those nights she had stayed at Iwatobi. I have been bed hopping an awful lot. That must be it. Then again she never seemed to have a problem sleeping when she was at Mikoshiba's place.
Mikoshiba's place. Our place. That's what he had said. Our house. Half and half.
She slipped a hand into her pocket and pulled out the bronze colored key. She held it in her palm. It was just a piece of metal. If anyone else found it lying on the street it would be insignificant. But to her it was so much more.
"When you're married you're supposed to do everything by halves." Her mother's words. The words Mikoshiba had used.
Why…Why did he have to use those exact words?
He could have said something else- anything else but that. Instead he had used those exact words. The same words as her mother. Her gaze traced up from the key in her palm to the pearl ring on her finger. Mikoshiba's key and the pearl ring intended for her mother. And the same exact words.
The door to the back deck slid open and Gou looked up to find Makoto stepping outside. "Can't sleep either?"
He shook his head. "I think Nagisa found one of those saltwater drinks when no one was looking. He's been bouncing off the walls since we got back. He keeps insisting on having Rei model the stuff he got from the zoo. He's been trying to get Haru to do it too for the last half hour."
Gou stifled a laugh with her hand. "Did Nagisa succeed?"
"He somehow convinced Haru to put on a fish hat. I think he told him it was a mackerel that only swam free or something. God knows where he got that. I'm not even sure how he managed to buy so much stuff."
"O-oh." Gou was still trying to fight down her laughter. Maybe Nagisa had spent all his money and was assuming they'd win the swimming competition and he'd get it all back. That would be a route of thinking Nagisa's mind would take. "You…you didn't get a picture of it did you?"
Makoto sighed. "My phone is too crummy to do that. And even if I did, Haru would only make me delete it." He looked at the key in her hands. "What's that?"
"A key." She held it up for him to see.
"A key?"
"It's from Mikoshiba. It's for the house."
Makoto raised an eyebrow but Gou did not respond to that silent inquisition. There wasn't much else to say anyway.
He took a seat on the edge of the picnic table, facing Gou from where she sat on the railing. "You uhhh…you two seeming to be getting along a lot better."
She shrugged. "We're friends."
He smiled. "Nagisa got to you, didn't he?"
"Yeah." She smiled back. "He did." Who knew Nagisa would be a good person to take advice from. Still, he had been right. Not being Mikoshiba's friend and holding him at a distance would only make things harder. They were definitely on better, even friendly, terms.
She didn't say any of these things to Makoto but he still saw them, years of reading Haru's vague expressions coming into play. He opened his mouth to say something but paused when the door opened. Haru stood in the entryway. Gou was a little disappointed that his head was bare and he was no longer wearing that fish hat Makoto had mentioned. She would have really enjoyed seeing the stoic teen wearing something that ridiculous.
He glanced between the two, seemingly understanding they were having a conversation, then turned his gaze Makoto's way before moving onto the deck.
"Its fine," Makoto responded and Haru moved out of the doorway and sat down beside him.
Gou gave a slight shake of her head. The two of them together sometimes made her feel like she was watching a Star Trek episode with telepathic aliens or something. She wasn't sure whether to be impressed or creeped out by their strange mental communications.
"You still want to get a divorce, don't you?" asked Makoto, returning to what he had been about to say before Haru had interrupted.
"Of course!" Gou didn't even need a second to answer. "Why wouldn't I?" Any other thought besides getting a divorce was simply inconceivable and she could never imagine having any other thought but that. "There's nothing that can change my mind about that," she said with certainty. "I mean, there's so much else I want to experience…"
Haru gave an odd twitch. Makoto glanced his way but Haru said nothing and Makoto did not give a translation for that action.
"Alright, I understand." Makoto yawned and stretched. "Did Nagisa head to bed?"
"He did," said Haru. "He sugar crashed and passed out on the couch. Rei took him to bed."
Gou pursed her lips, wondering in what way was Haru implying that Rei took Nagisa to bed exactly? She couldn't tell and even if she asked it was unlikely Haru would give her an explanation.
"We should head to bed too then," said Makoto and once again Gou wondered in what way was that statement being implied. "Are you going to be staying at the other lodge, Gou?"
"Yeah. It's too late to head over to Mikoshiba's so I'll stay here tonight. I have some extra clothes stashed in Amakata's room I can use."
"Alright." Makoto rose and Haru with him. "Good night, Gou."
"Night." The two departed and the house steadily fell into darkness as they turned off the lights. In the dim light of the deck lights, Gou looked once more at the key in her palm. It's just a key, she told herself. An item for convenience. Nothing more.
She tucked it into her pocket and headed towards the other lodge, putting the key out of her thoughts.
It was their free day the next day. Gou slept in as long as she could, which wasn't long with Amakata in the room. For a person who was not that big she sounded like a giant as she moved about and Gou found herself giving up on sleep once the teacher started using her blow dryer. There was no way she was going to sleep while it sounded like there was a jet engine in the room.
She showered and got dressed before heading over to the other lodge, and by the time she arrived the boys were awake as well.
"Today's our free day!" Nagisa stretched in the sunlight pouring in through the window. "Let's go back to the zoo! I want to see the hippos!"
"I am absolutely not going back there!" Makoto protested. "Didn't you get your fill from last night anyway? My legs were so sore I had trouble sleeping last night…"
"Mine were quite sore too," Rei agreed. "Besides, it's a nocturnal zoo, Nagisa-kun. It won't be open during the day."
"Oh, that is right." Nagisa scratched the top of his head. "What are we going to do today then?" No answers were immediately forthcoming. "What's Sei-chan doing, Gou-chan?"
Sei-chan again? Gou pushed the magazine she had been looking at away. It was another one of those swimming magazines someone had taken from Goro. Who kept stealing them she wasn't sure. Probably Nagisa, although why he was stealing them was still a mystery. Maybe he was doing it simply to see if Goro would manage to catch him or not. "They're swimming today."
It was one of the few days they had separately from each other. Tomorrow their days would switch and Iwatobi would be swimming. She knew that simply from having the schedule memorized and not because she had heard anything from Mikoshiba. She hadn't heard from him at all this morning. Now that she had a key there had been no reason for them to text each other. He was likely busy with his own swim team anyway.
"Two swimming days in a row?" asked Makoto. "That's unusual."
"It's because next week is a holiday of some sort for the country." Gou leaned her elbow on the counter and placed her chin in her palm. "That's something we need to talk about by the way. There won't be any swimming next week. We'll have a swimming day tomorrow but after that there won't be any for at least a week."
Makoto frowned. "That's a long time to go without any practice and a competition coming up."
"No swimming at all?" asked Nagisa.
"They're closing the pool down for that week. We won't have access to it." She tapped a finger against the side of her mouth. "I've heard that some swimming teams are renting gym pools for that week but I don't believe we have the funds for that, do we?"
"Highly unlikely," said Makoto.
"Ama-chan will pay for it!" Nagisa fisted his hands in front of his chest. "She's our generous advisor!"
"I doubt she has that kind of money," Rei muttered. "And even if she did I can't foresee her paying for it regardless."
"Well then if we can't afford a pool what are we going to do?" pressed Nagisa but like his question earlier no answers were forthcoming.
"We'll figure out something," said Makoto encouragingly. "We have some time to think about it and decide." He stretched his arms over his head. "In the meantime, what are we going to do today?"
They ended up shopping. For swimsuits. Gou couldn't believe it. Each of the four boys had so many swimsuits, especially Nagisa, that it likely put her entire wardrobe to shame and here they were shopping for them again.
"What better thing to do then try on a different country's swimsuit?" Nagisa had exclaimed when Gou had questioned them about it. "We don't have any swimsuits from this country after all!"
Rei had enthusiastically agreed with him and even Haru had seemed partial to the idea. Gou knew she was fighting a losing battle.
She tagged along out of sheer boredom. Amakata and Goro had disappeared to do some adult stuff she could only assume, and Samezuka was busy swimming. She had no choice but to go along with Iwatobi or go off on her own, something she wasn't entirely comfortable with doing. While the country seemed safe enough she couldn't speak or read the native language and would likely only get hopelessly lost and frustrated.
She amused herself for a time watching the boys go in and out of the changing booths like a merry-go-round, enjoying the free show she was receiving of half naked muscular torsos. Haru kept trying on the same type of swimsuit again and again, even though he insisted it was different. Rei always managed to find the weirdest and most hideous things to try on, babbling about their psychological impact. And Nagisa…For some strange reason the country offered bikinis for men, and for some even stranger reason Nagisa had decided to try them on. Whatever, she wasn't going to question it. It just presented more muscle to look at.
Gluteus maximus.
It was a bit odd to her that the boys enjoyed modeling the swimsuits for each other so much. She would have assumed they would just go into the changing room, try whatever they needed to on, and then decide themselves then and there if they wanted it or not based off the fit and the way they saw it in the mirror rather than parade it around in front of their friends and get their opinions. That seemed more like something girls would want to do. Then again maybe it was a good thing. If not for the others opinions Rei would be wearing some truly atrocious stuff that should never be seen in public. He could end up blinding some poor kid and then what?
After about an hour Gou could feel the sparkle of observing muscles steadily fading though. Watching them feverishly try stuff on was making her feel exhausted so she walked away to find something to drink and to take a break. She lucked out and found a juice bar close by and after some exaggerated hand gestures and pointing was able to indicate to the clerk what she wanted and how much she needed to pay.
With her juice in hand (something called boysenberry and chirstmas melon – maybe she had just gotten it because it had the word Christmas in it) Gou sat down at a nearby table and people watched for a bit. There were quite a few groups of young men all heading towards the swimsuit store. She could only assume they were other swimming teams visiting the country, what with their muscular builds and all. They all love shopping for swimsuits.
Her phone went off quite suddenly, making that ugly beeping sound she had come to associate with receiving a text message. Mikoshiba? It was the only person she could think of who would text her outside of the Iwatobi boys. She dug the phone out of her bag and looked at it. It wasn't Mikoshiba. However the number the phone displayed made her eyes widen and she nearly started bouncing in her seat. Quickly she pushed the read key. A huge smile spread across her face. The day has finally come!
She shoved the phone so close to Makoto he had to lean back so he could read it. "Hana-chan will be here tomorrow!"
He blinked rapidly at the screen. "Hana-chan?"
"My friend on the debate team!" She cradled the phone with its precious message in her hand.
Shortly after getting her new phone she had messaged her new number to Hana. Hana had messaged back a confirmation and that she would let Gou know when they were on their way. Since then the two hadn't communicated at all due to how expensive the international charges were. The last few days Gou had been waiting anxiously to hear from Hana with an arrival date. She knew the day was creeping up and now it was finally here!
"Hana-chan?" asked Nagisa. "Isn't that the girl with the weird hairstyle?"
"You're so rude!" Gou chided. "But yes, it is."
Hana was coming! She was finally coming and would be here tomorrow! Gou was as excited as the boys had been about swimsuit shopping. It was going to be so nice having another girl around. Outside of Amakata she had been surrounded by boys for what seemed like ages now.
"Would it be alright if I went and met up with her tomorrow? I mean I know it's our swimming day but…"
It was selfish of her but she wanted to see Hana desperately. Hana had no idea about anything that had happened since Gou had departed Japan. And well, there was…quite a lot to tell her.
Makoto obliged her regardless. "I'm sure it won't hurt if you take one day off," he said, smiling at her. "I mean your friend is flying in. You should go meet her."
Gou clapped her hands together. "Thanks, Makoto! I knew you'd understand." This guy is going to spoil his kids rotten when he has them.
As they walked down the street Nagisa held up a small piece of white cloth that looked like underwear. "Look what I got, Gou-chan!"
Gou's initial reaction was to tell him not to bring stuff like that out in public but then she stopped and narrowed her eyes at the small piece of material dangling from his grasp. "Is that one of those men's bikinis?"
Nagisa jerked the cloth back like she had threatened to steal it. "It is not a bikini!" he objected. "It's a new kind of speedo! It's an important piece of sportswear!"
"How in God's name is that sportswear?"
"It's designed to lower water resistance," said Rei. He pushed his glasses further onto his nose, sunlight reflecting off the surface so she was unable to see his eyes. "I bought one as well."
You have got to be kidding me. They looked like ladies underwear. How could anyone but a small toddler swim in that? She looked at Makoto. Haru wouldn't buy one because he only wore one kind of swimsuit but Makoto was a different story. "Please don't tell me you bought one too?"
"No, no, I didn't." There was a faint hinting of red across Makoto's cheeks. "They…They don't carry them in the size I need."
The rest of the day was relatively quiet. They spent sometime wandering around parks and trying out more of the local cuisine. They even took a ride on a carriage that went around the smaller streets of downtown to give their legs a break from walking. All of them were still a bit sore after the zoo last night and all the walking they had done then. Poor Mikoshiba must be in a world of hurt if he had decided to swim with his team today. More than likely he would manage the team instead and stay out of the water to give his sore muscles a break.
They made a side trip the food store as well for Gou's sake. That way she could store some food at Mikoshiba's place and not eat all of his.
"Are you going to cook for Sei-chan?" asked Nagisa upon seeing her full basket. "You're really trying to be a good wife, aren't you, Gou-chan?"
"Yes, that's very domestic of you," Rei commented as well.
Gou's face burned like a hot plate. "These are for me, you jerks!"
"You should have bought a bikini at the swimsuit store to model for Sei-chan too," said Nagisa.
Gou's skin was going to set on fire. She lobbed a box of cereal at him, which only ended up exploding and sending cereal scattering everywhere when he dodged it. Gou was forced to pay for the wrecked cereal and apologize profusely to the poor employee who had to clean it up.
God. She used a few colorful phrases in her head. If Mikoshiba heard anything that Nagisa was saying it would be beyond terrible. Way beyond. Gou would probably book herself a trip back to Japan in that case, competition and money be damned.
Then again Nagisa did seem to tone it down when Mikoshiba was around. He was a bit more careful with his words when Gou and Mikoshiba were together. He probably just liked to tease Gou about it when the Samezuka Captain was absent because it amused him. That little…
"Gou." Makoto 's smile was incredibly strained. "Please put down that cereal box."
They managed to get out of the store and back to the Iwatobi lodges without destroying anymore food or Gou killing Nagisa. She remained there until they had dinner, deciding to depart shortly after that to head back to Mikoshiba's before it got too dark. It was Rei who accompanied her instead of Makoto to help carry the groceries, stating he wanted to talk to Mikoshiba about another tutor session.
Gou hadn't heard from Mikoshiba all day and she hadn't texted him either. Whenever she thought to send a message her mind would draw a complete blank as to what she should say. She had no questions to ask him and simply sending him a text to see what he was doing made her feel weird and embarrassed. He'd likely wonder why the heck she would send such a thing and not respond or ask her if she needed something instead. So she hadn't texted him at all.
He was sitting on the couch and massaging his calves when they walked in. "Yo." He paused a second at seeing someone else with her. "Hey, Rei."
"Good evening, Captain Mikoshiba." Rei greeted pleasantly. So proper. Despite Mikoshiba calling Rei by his first name Rei still insisted on calling Mikoshiba by his full title.
Gou went into the kitchen with her groceries, leaving the two of them to their swimming talk. Putting away her food was fairly easy. Since the residence was temporary, Mikoshiba didn't have too much and there was ample space for her. Half maybe? She mentally slapped herself.
She walked back into the living when she was done and Rei had already departed after talking with Mikoshiba for a few minutes.
"What did you do all day?" Mikoshiba was still leaning over rubbing his calf. His legs must have been hurting him.
"Nothing much really." She sat down on the couch. "The boys went swimsuit shopping."
Those last two words made Mikoshiba's eyes light up like lighthouses. "That's what we're planning to do tomorrow for our free day." Was he about to start drooling? "I'm so excited!"
She could see that. Maybe it was a swimmers thing, getting excited about buying new swimsuits. That made her think of the message she had received while shopping with the Iwatobi boys and she smiled gleefully. "My friend is flying in tomorrow!"
"Your friend?"
"Hana-chan," said Gou, although he would still have no idea who she was talking about regardless. The two had never met. "She's coming to compete with her debate team."
"Oh, a friend from your school?
She nodded.
"I bet that will be nice." He stretched his legs out on the table in front of them. "I'm glad tomorrow is our free day," he commented. "My legs are really sore."
"You swam today?"
"Of course." He looked at her in surprise. "We have a competition coming up. We have to swim as much as we can before then. Especially with the restricted time we currently have." He frowned. "After the first competition I'm sure there will be more swimming time since there will be so many fewer teams. That will be when things become truly serious."
He's already talking like Samezuka has gotten past the first competition. Not that she could blame him. Samezuka was a swimming powerhouse for a reason. They were incredibly good and Gou would honestly be amazed if they didn't progress in at least one area or other. Clearly there was no doubt in Mikoshiba's mind that they would be progressing.
"Hey, what are you planning to do for next week? You know the pool is going to be closed that week, right?"
He nodded. "We're looking to rent a pool. I placed a bid for one to the south of here this morning. All the pools in the immediate vicinity have already been rented. We'll have to do a little bit of traveling but I'm fairly certain we'll be able to find something."
"Oh." So he already had it all planned Samezuka had a cushy budget on hand to use to do such thing due to their long record of accomplishments. Unlike Iwatobi who had…none. Well, hopefully this trip will fix that.
"What is Iwatobi going to do?"
"We're not sure yet," she admitted. "We're going to try and figure out something that will let us get some swimming in though."
"Not going to rent a pool?"
Gou grimaced. "N-no…We don't have the money for that."
"O-oh." He tilted his head away. "Sorry to hear."
It must be a foreign concept to him, not having enough money to do something when it came to their swim team. Lucky, lucky .If only Iwatobi had that sort of money.
They didn't stay up for long. Mikoshiba was tired and sore, and Gou had to get up early the next day too.
Hana-chan is coming! It was her last thought before falling asleep in the all too comfortable bed, surrounded by that familiar smell of sun and wind.
When alarms normally went off at some ungodly early hour in the morning Gou hated them with a burning passion. But today was different. When the alarm went off this morning, instead of slapping it and grumbling, Gou leapt out of the bed. Hana-chan is here, Hana-chan is here!
She twitched, her excitement too great to contain to just herself. She ran into the living room. "Hana-chan is here! Hana-chan is here!" She shook Seijuro vigorously. If there had been room she would have been jumping on the couch. "She's finally here!"
Seijuro groaned at the shaking. "It's too early for this."
Gou was much too jubilant to pay much mind to his bemoaning. "Hana-chan's arriving today!" Then a thought suddenly struck her like a bolt of lightning. "What should I wear?!" She raced back to the bedroom.
"Clothes," came Seijuro's sluggish response from the couch.
Gou paused in the midst of digging furiously through her drawer. Clothes? Is that what he had said? Did that mean his other option would have been to go naked? Pervert!
She spent the next fifteen minutes trying on various outfits, however nothing seemed to look good and to her everything looked old and worn. By the time she found something that looked somewhat okay the bedroom was covered in clothing that had been thrown haphazardly aside during her frenzy.
"How do I look?" She stood at the foot of Seijuro's couch, waiting for his appraisal. She would have preferred asking someone like Amakata but Seijuro was the one available she could ask for an opinion.
He slit open one sleepy eye. "That looks good."
"A-are you sure?" She tugged on the shirt hem. "It's so old."
"It looks fine."
Gou scowled. Fine was just a nice way of saying you look bad. She turned back towards the bedroom.
"Wa-wait! I said it looks fine!"
"No, it doesn't! I need to find something better to wear."
He sighed. "Aren't you just going to see your friend anyway? What does it matter how you look?"
"Because it does! No guy could understand!"
"Apparently not," she heard him mutter. "You're going to be late, you know."
"No, I'm not. I'll be ready in five minutes."
There was a snort from the other room. Gou narrowed her eyes. He didn't believe her. I'll show him. She picked up a shirt. Time to settle on an outfit.
Despite her vow she was twenty minutes late. Thankfully she was meeting Hana at the lodging the debate team had been given rather than the airport so it wasn't a big deal that she was late. Hana would understand, being another girl and all, and besides it would give hera more time to unpack. She might actually like the fact that Gou was late.
Gou was still twitching with excitement as she knocked on the door and when it opened, she burst out, "Hana-chan!" She wrapped her arms around the other girl. "I'm so glad you're here!"
"Gou!" Hana returned the hug. "You look so cute!"
Mission accomplished!
"How have things been with you?" Gou asked once they separated. "Did you have fun the last few weeks?"
"Oh, we didn't do much at all," said Hana. "Most of the last few weeks we spent getting ready to come here. What about you?" Hana looked at her expectantly.
"Uhh," said Gou.
"Being in a foreign country, I bet it was much more exciting for you," Hana continued. "Even if you were stuck hanging around all boys."
Gou rubbed her lips together.
"So what have you been up to since you got here? Anything exciting?"
"O-oh well, you know." Gou's smile was more like a grimace. She rubbed the back of her neck. "M-maybe a little."
Hana gave her questioning look.
Gou worried her hands. "I ummm…" She swallowed. "Let's go talk somewhere."
"You got married?!"
"Shhh!" Gou's eyes were wide as dinner plates as she looked quickly around the small café. Hana's outburst had certainly drawn the attention of other nearby customers but luckily none of them looked familiar. She couldn't recall what most of the Samezuka swim members looked like but if luck was on her side – yeah, right – they wouldn't know what they were talking about or remember who she was. "Keep your voice down."
Hana was moving about in her chair like her pants had suddenly caught flame. "What do you mean you got married?" Her voice was shrill and Gou flinched with a grimace. "How could you be married?!"
"Shhh! I said keep your voice down!" She let out a breath. "It happened the first night I got here. All of us, we decided to go out drinking and I…I got really drunk…Like really, really drunk, okay? Like I literally don't remember anything. Anyway during that time, I…sort of married my brother's swim team captain."
"Your brother's swim team captain?!"
"Shhhh!" Gou nearly launched herself across the table and pressed her hands to the other girl's mouth. They were drawing quite a bit of attention with Hana's exclamations. Gou hoped the other people staring at them wouldn't mistake her blush as meaning something else when she currently had her hand over another's girl mouth. "J-just let me explain, okay?"
She waited for Hana's nod before taking her hand away and Hana managed to contain herself and stay quiet so Gou could finish. By the time Gou was done telling her everything, Hana had calmed down significantly and spoke at a normal volume.
"I can't believe you got married." She was looking at Gou like she wasn't sure what to think about her. "Married at such a young age and you're living with him." She raised her hands to cover her mouth. "So scandalous."
Gou rolled her eyes. "It's not like I moved in with him by choice. The stupid laws here forced me to do it."
"And he's your own brother's swimsuit captain and your brother doesn't even know about it! So scandalous!"
"Yes, yes, I know it's bad." Gou sighed. Her life had turned into an utter soap opera or a really bad comedy. "Anyway, you cannot, and I mean cannot, tell my brother about this." She fixed Hana with her most meaningfully stare. "I mean it, Hana-chan. He cannot know. If he does he'd kill Mikoshiba and maybe even me. Or he'd lock me away somewhere and not let me out until I'm fifty. I'm serious, he'd do something like that if he found out."
"Mikoshiba? Is that his name?" asked Hana and Gou fisted her hand. Don't focus on that of all things! "What's his first name?"
"His first name?" Gou's face reddened. Never once had she spoken his first name. She had read it – on their marriage certificate no less - and heard others use it but never, ever had she said it. It had always felt too personal to do such a thing, to have his first name on her tongue and lips. "Seijuro," she forced out after a moment.
"Seijuro," whispered Hana.
Gou tilted her head to the side. The way Hana said his first name so easily bugged her for some strange reason. Shouldn't Hana feel awkward saying it when she didn't even know him? I'm getting off topic here. "Anyway, like I was saying! You cannot tell my brother. I'm serious, Hana-chan. Promise me you won't say anything to him."
"Oh, I promise, I promise. I swear I won't say anything."
Gou sagged in her chair with a sigh. Good. Hana may tease her quite a bit but she trusted her fully. If she said she wasn't going to say anything then she wouldn't.
"What are the other girls at school going to think when they find out about this?" mused Hana.
Gou scowled. "They aren't going to say anything because they aren't going to know about it. Like I said before, when we get back to Japan we'll get a divorce and that will be the end of it. No one will know anything and we'll pretend like it didn't happen and go on with our lives."
"How could you act like it never happened?" Hana gasped. "That's just…So weird. I mean right now in this very moment you're someone's wife! You can't act like that never happened."
"Of course I can," Gou snorted. "I don't even remember getting married."
"But you still are-"
"It was a mistake. Nothing more. A really dumb, stupid drunken mistake. When we get a divorce that will be the end of it."
Hana sighed as if in disappointed. "Okay, okay, I get it. But I mean…if you didn't like him then why did you marry him?"
Gou clasped the top of her head with her hands. Always it was this question. Always. She was never going to be able to escape it. "I don't know why I got married! I was drunk. I literally don't remember anything! I don't know why I did it."
"You don't remember anything? Anything at all?"
The way Hana said that made Gou look up. Hana's eyes swished side to side as if checking to make sure no one was listening. She leaned in closer to whisper. "You don't even remember if you kissed or not?"
Gou flushed. This again too. She looked away. "I…I don't remember."
"You don't remember?!" Hana was aghast. "How could you not remember something like that! That was…That was your first kiss, wasn't it?!"
"No. I mean, yes it was. I mean I-I don't know!" She covered her face with her hands. "I don't remember! My first kiss and I don't even remember it."
"That is pretty bad."
She shot a glare at Hana through her fingers.
"I mean if I couldn't remember my first kiss I would just want to die," Hana continued.
"Thanks," growled Gou. Hana was doing a terrible job of cheering her up.
"But if you don't remember something like that, then do you think maybe you guys did…y'know." She made a very inappropriate and crude gesture with her hands involving a circle formed out of her thumb and index finger.
Gou's face reddened more. "We-we didn't do that!"
"But how do you know?"
"I just know, okay! Don't make me explain it!" Her face was so hot she considered grabbing an ice cube out of her tea and using it to cool down. She really didn't want to be discussing this of all things.
Hana sank into her seat, as if disappointed by that too. "Well, that's good, I suppose. It would have been terrible if you couldn't remember your first one of those either!"
Gou closed her eyes and slowly counted backwards from ten in her head.
"So when do I get to meet him?" Hana asked brightly and Gou's mouth dropped.
That's what your concerned about?! She ground her teeth. "I don't know. Sometime soon." There was no doubt the two would meet at some point or other. Gou didn't plan on sneaking Hana around Mikoshiba or vice versa. That would just be too difficult on top of already sneaking around Rin.
"You should bring me over and introduce me!"
"Absolutely not! That would be way too weird."
"Why?"
Because he'd know why I was bringing you over there for. He would know Hana was there to just meet him. She wasn't sure how Mikoshiba would react to that and didn't really want to find out. No, if they were going to meet it would have to be somewhere would they had something else going on. That way it wouldn't just be 'hey, this is my friend Hana, and this is the guy I'm currently married to by accident!'.
"Because," said Gou evasively. She didn't want to explain that to Hana. Hana would just laugh about it and insist she meet him.
"Oh well." Hana poked at her milkshake. "I guess that means you won't want to come out with us tonight, then."
"Huh?" Gou blinked.
"Yuko and Yuka and I were planning on going out tonight. Since the legal drinking age here is sixteen we figured we'd take advantage of it." Yuko and Yuka were the other two girls that made up the debate team. They were both dark haired girls that Gou often had a hard time remembering which was which.
Gou made a bit of a face. "I've had all I can take of alcohol honestly."
"But you have to come!" Hana protested. "It's our first night here and you're the only one who knows the area! You have to come with us!"
Gou scowled. Now she felt bad. She hadn't seen Hana in a while and not spending time with her the first night she was here would make her a pretty poor friend. "Okay. But I am not drinking!" If she got married the first time she got drunk what would she do the second time? Probably wake up on some uninhabited island somewhere ruling over a small colony of gophers with a crown made out of a coconut shell.
"Oh you can drink a little." Hana waved a hand. "Just don't get super drunk like last time. One or two drinks isn't going to do any harm."
"Maybe," said Gou. "But only one or two!"
"Of course, of course." Hana swirled her milkshake with her straw, giving Gou a sly look over it. "Unless of course you'd rather stay home. I know how hard it is for newlyweds to be separated from each other."
Gou's scowl deepened. She threw her wadded up napkin at Hana but she only laughed at her.
It was dark out and she was in the bathroom finishing up getting ready when Mikoshiba finally arrived home. He had been gone the entire day with his swim team. What exactly they had been doing Gou didn't know; she hadn't heard from him all day. Likely shopping. It wouldn't have surprised her if they had spent all day there. There were so many of them they were probably fighting over changing rooms.
"Gou? Are you in the bathroom?" His voice drifted down from the living room to her.
"I'm here," she called back and faintly she heard the sound of him sitting on the couch.
Almost done. Gou kept her eyes glued on the mirror as she applied the mascara. She didn't normally wear make-up but tonight was a special occasion. Because it was girls night out! Going out with the boys had been one thing but this was different. Going out with the boys she didn't feel the need to get dolled up but with the girls she felt it required the extra effort.
She would be meeting up shortly with Hana and the two other girls at the downtown area. Presently they were at the debate team's housing getting ready themselves. Gou felt sort of bad for them. The debate team was small so their housing was not very big. They had only had two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The three members had one bedroom and their advisor the other. Three girls sharing one bathroom...
Like the Samezuka boys fighting over changing rooms the girls would likely be fighting over mirror space. Gou was lucky. She had the entire bathroom to herself to get ready.
The perks of being the Captain of such a swimming powerhouse as Samezuka, having an entire place to yourself. And she got to share in them. Because we're married.
She shook her head to dislodge that thought and had to spend several minutes cleaning the line of mascara off her cheek.
"Did you meet up with your friend today?" Mikoshiba's voice came from the living room again. He must have gotten tired of the silence.
"Uh huh." She took a step back to look herself over, turning several times in front of the mirror. She didn't look too bad, if she did say so herself. "I'm about to go meet up with her now actually."
"Now?" There was a hint of surprise in his tone. "This late?"
"Yeah. We're going out." Gou pushed open the bathroom door the rest of the way and walked into the living room.
"Out?" asked Mikoshiba, then he looked up at her entrance and Gou found this time she didn't have to ask him if she looked good or not. The way his eyes widened and his mouth slightly parted was all the answer she needed. 'You look good' was written all over his face.
She was glad the make-up would help conceal her blush. She couldn't help smiling either.
"Umm." He sounded like his throat was suddenly dry. He coughed to clear it. "Where are you going," he asked, voice a little strained, "dressed like that?"
She smiled wider and shouldered her bag. "Out."
"Out?"
"To the downtown area."
"To the downtown area?"
She frowned. Was there an echo in here?
He grasped what she meant a second later and his sharp eyebrows lowered. "You're going out drinking?"
"Well, I'm not going out drinking." She had learned her lesson already that was for sure. "Hana-chan and the others want to though. I'm just tagging along."
The look he was giving her was a strange one. For someone who was normally pretty expressive and easy to read, this expression she was having a hard time figuring out.
"You're not going to be drinking at all?" he asked slowly.
"Maybe one or two." She shrugged. "Nothing crazy."
He was still giving her that look. Was it doubt? No, there was more to it than that but what she didn't know.
Was he thinking about what had happened the last time she had gotten drunk and wondering what she crazy thing she would do this time? But…why would he care about that?
"Are you sure that's," he began but Gou's phone went off, interrupting him and she was distracted pulling it out from her bag.
"Hana-chan and the others are ready." She snapped the phone closed. "I'll be home late but hopefully not too late. I'll try not to wake you up when I come in."
He was frowning a bit, but Gou had a feeling it was about something else than her waking him up when she came in. She couldn't help noticing either that when Mikoshiba smiled his whole face lit up, but when he was unhappy about something his whole face darkened too.
"Umm," she began but her phone went obnoxiously off in her hand again. "Jeez, Hana-chan, I'm coming." She punched at the phone so it would shut up and started towards the door. "I'll see you later."
His frowned had not abated. "Alright." The word was oddly measured, very close to his captain's tone. "Be careful."
Was he really trying to say don't do anything stupid? Whatever, he was the one who kept buying her drinks last time and his signature was on that marriage certificate too. He was partly to blame for everything.
"When you're married you do everything by halves."
Everything by halves. Half of the blame for both of us.
She shook her head. Tonight was not the night to be thinking about that. Because tonight was all about having fun!
Well, not too much fun. Last time she had had too much fun she had gotten married. Just a medium amount of fun, then.
Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she started off down the street towards her friends and the bars.
Nagisa's 'swimsuit' is seriously a real thing and canon. I saw the pictures floating around tumblr although I can't find a link for them now. I think it's in the special episodes included with the DVD. So yes, Nagisa owns a bikini (I bet he looks fabulous in it too)