Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter! Only two left, and I can't decide whether to post them quickly before things get hectic or wait one week for Thanksgiving break~!

Disclaimer: I own nothing~! Song, which is a good one as they all are, is from Lydia's album "Illuminate"

There's a flashback early on, but I didn't specify saying outright "This is a flashback~" haha hope you recognize it as such tho and hopefully it's not too confusing~

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

I Woke Up Near the Sea

Mikoshiba walks Gou back to her empty home. Each time Mikoshiba kisses her, no matter how spontaneous they are, he's always shy about it. He blushes madly, which, if Gou notices in time, gives away his intention every time. And he can't keep a straight face through kisses; he always smiles, like a kid with candy, and she loves it.

She loves that she already can pick up on his kissing habits (Well, he certainly has acquainted her in such a short time with his kisses, so it's not all that surprising).

His kiss goodbye to her is no different this time around. His faces flushes with color; he leans in slowly at first, but then can't handle the anticipation and crashes his lips against hers; and he smiles halfway through the kiss but refuses to break apart until he absolutely must.

Gou keeps her eyes closed up until he finally breaks apart, and the way he looks at her makes her blush furiously but she doesn't mind it. His eyes are longing and warm; nothing like Kent's.

(She can hardly remember Kent's face, her mind is so drowned in thoughts of Mi-Seijuro, she corrects herself)

Once inside, Gou thinks to check her phone. She isn't expecting any messages, but that does remind her of Rin and she curses at herself for forgetting to ask Mikoshiba about what her brother and he talked about. She considers texting Rin herself, but thinks against it.

He'll most likely chew her out for something or other, or confront her about if she went out with Mikoshiba this afternoon, whether he knew she would or not, and she doesn't want him to spoil the evening.

Who she does text is Chigusa, because her friend had bothered her all through lunch about what the date would be like. Gou hadn't the faintest idea at the time, but knew Chigusa would now get every detail out of her eventually. Might as well relay it while it was still fresh in her mind.

Not a minute after Gou sent the text to Chigusa did her inbox flood with messages.

The first being from Mikoshiba.

[I had a great time today ]

She smiles texting her response.

The second is from Makoto, surprisingly.

[Hey! We were all thinking about holding another training-weekend-from-hell this weekend with the Samezuka team for Mikoshiba before Nationals! Wondering what you thought and if you'd ask Mikoshiba if he was up for it? We could all use a weekend on the beach!]

That didn't sound that bad, Gou thought. Mikoshiba probably would be up for it; he'd told her how much he enjoyed the island their two schools had been on the last time they'd been there. It's be just for the weekend, nothing too hellish to tire him out, and Makoto was right; they could all use a quick vacation away from the city.

Just as Gou forwards the idea to Mikoshiba, Chigusa responds, demanding more details of the date (As if Gou hadn't told her everything that she was willing to tell?!).

Mikoshiba responds that that idea sounds great. When Gou relays this to Makoto, he sends her a planned schedule to forward. They'll meet early at the docks, Sasabe will ferry them to the island (As usual, he can't take the day off but will return that evening). Miss Amakata is onboard to chaperone.

It all sounds fine, until Makoto follows up the message asking Gou to get an estimate of how many students from Samezuka are willing to camp out to support their captain and train-It's not a mandatory weekend practice, though Mikoshiba could choose to make it such with his team.

That's right. Samezuka…

Rin.

Would Rin come?

Gou sends Makoto's message, leaving out her concern of Mikoshiba—Seijuro—having to confront her brother about the proposal. Or maybe when they talked, they worked through their problems. Perhaps Gou is over thinking this; Rin could be giving the couple his blessing, for all she knew.

(She sincerely doubted that much)

In any case, it was Mikoshiba's problem to worry about, not hers.

All Mikoshiba read within Gou's latest message was 'Rin'.

Well, shit.

The trip had seemed like a good idea.

Maybe if he just didn't ask Matsuoka and showed up tomorrow morning, told the others that their friend was just too busy to take the time off…

That sounded fine, until the truth catches up to him and Rin finds out that Mikoshiba didn't even ask him if he wanted to join the others. Actually, Rin would be more offended that Mikoshiba and Gou were on the island together without him rather than be offended that Mikoshiba didn't even ask Rin.

He just can't imagine confronting Rin again after their last disaster of a 'talk' from Wednesday night.

"You wanted to talk. Go ahead," Mikoshiba probes, crossing his arms.

Rin's dragged him out by the pool, and it's late and they're both tired from the afternoon ordeal at the cafe.

"What the hell was that back there? You're dating my sister?"

Mikoshiba sighs, "Well, she didn't answer me, so I guess that was a bit premature on my behalf-"

"The fuck it was! Stay the hell away from my sister-!"

"Yeah, except if you haven't noticed, lately me being there for your sister is kind of exactly what she's needed."

That's a low blow and Rin looks ready to hit Mikoshiba. Mikoshiba's counting on it.

"My sister doesn't need you-"

"She doesn't." Mikoshiba agrees, "but, that doesn't mean she doesn't want me."

Poor, poor choice of words.

Rin goes in to deck Mikoshiba, who dodges the blow barely.

"Alright, I didn't mean that-! Think about what're you're doing, Matsuoka!" Mikoshiba shouts, throwing his hand up to deflect Rin's fist.

"My sister is having a hard enough time with one creep, she doesn't need the likes of you breathing down her back the second she escapes the first-"

"But she does need me in the place of her brother!" Mikoshiba snaps. "You want to argue she doesn't need me? She's choosing to come to me. Because her own damn brother won't fucking text her or reach out to her. In that case, yeah, she is going to turn to me. Because I'm there for her, which is more than you can say."

"Shut the hell up. You don't know what you're talking about-"

"I don't? I know you never texted her back, or called her. I get it. You had a tough time in Australia. You lost your drive, your will to swim and you've found it again in swimming with your friends from Iwatobi. But you can't shut Gou out. Even now, you still refuse to let her in! You still won't send a damn message to her in the morning saying 'hi' or 'hello' or 'how was your day, sis? I'm just asking because I care'. It's 'cause you don't."

"You think I don't fucking care about my sister?!"

"I'm not so sure. So, yes, your sister and I aren't dating. Yet. But, I really like your sister. And she likes me back. And if we're not dating tonight, I won't stop until we are because I care about her and I will always be there for her. I'll be a part of her life, for as long as she wants me. And when you want to start being a part of her life? You know how to reach her. Or me."

Rin isn't done talking but Mikoshiba is. He walks out, ignoring Rin whether he's calling after him or not. He has a date with Gou to plan. He pulls out his phone, texting then and there and not giving a shit if Rin can see him do so and can piece two and two together that Mikoshiba has the audacity to text Gou right in front of him.

[Still up for that date Friday? Sorry bout this afternoon. Sure you're ok? ]

Mikoshiba's roundabout solution is to invite Nitori and have him relay the option to Rin. If Rin shows up in the morning? Great. It'll be a strained and awkward weekend, but at least Mikoshiba won't feel guilty lying to Gou about inviting her brother. If he doesn't show up? Even better.

That morning, Rin shows up.

He's one of the last to arrive, in tow behind Nitori, but he's there and Mikoshiba feels his stomach lurch. He intentionally stands away from Gou because despite all his big talk the night he and Rin argued, he doesn't want to deliberately piss the kid off.

Rin doesn't approach Mikoshiba, but even more upsetting is he keeps his distance from Gou. That pisses Mikoshiba off. That nothing he said got through to Rin.

Like he purposely wants to remain aloof towards Gou.

Whatever. Just means the two of them won't be bothered much.

Except there is no 'two of them'. From the moment the crowd of swimmers hit the beach, they break straight into training. They divide their time, training both in open water swimming, as the Iwatobi swimmers lead, and training in the indoor pool that Samezuka used on their previous trip here.

Mikoshiba only sees Gou at lunch, but she's so busy serving lunches to everyone along with Miss Amakata that he hardly sees her then even.

They stop training an hour before sundown, allowing everyone adequate time to set their tents. Remarkably, they mustered enough money and volunteered equipment to supply enough tents that everyone can sleep two to a tent, with the exception of Gou and Miss Amakata who had rented a lodging last minute further from the beach.

Mikoshiba, though disappointed despite having known things would work out this way, settled with knowing he'd be sleeping next to the vice-captain of the Samezuka swim team, a fellow third year who Mikoshiba had known since he first entered the program.

Except then his vice-captain stumbled upon the wrong plant, incidentally causing an allergic reaction that landed him at the overnight medical care unit located in the same building as the indoor poor and recreational center.

Mikoshiba suddenly had the tent to himself.

"Wah! Lucky Captain! Switch with me, eh?!"

"Switch with you?! Switch with me, Captain Mikoshiba! This guy snores-!"

"Which is exactly why he should switch with me! That way no one has to listen to me snore, idiot!"

Mikoshiba sighed. In honesty, he wouldn't mind sharing the tent. But, if anyone was going to get the privilege to sleep alone, it might as well be him. This whole training trip was for him anyway, wasn't it?

The two captains, Mikoshiba and Makoto, had set a curfew. Upon arriving at said curfew, they scanned through each tent to check that everyone was inside. Mikoshiba had the misfortune of checking on Rin and Nitori's tent, but to his relief Rin appeared already asleep. He passed on his goodnight to Nitori, warning him to get a good night's sleep before the morning drills, which would take place before they ferried back to the mainland.

Makoto then checked with Mikoshiba, confirming that everyone was accounted for, and said his own good night.

Mikoshiba had just reached his tent when he caught sight of the glimmer of a flashlight approaching their encampment.

"Whose there?"

"Me!"

It was Gou. Mikoshiba felt his heart race. Was she coming to meet him? She wasn't trying to keep her voice down-some of the swimmers were still awake! What if they saw her, saw them, did she want everyone to know..?

As Gou got closer, Mikoshiba could make out that she was struggling with something in her hands. Reacting quickly, he met her halfway and took from her a bundle of blankets.

"What's this?"

"Miss Amakata checked these out from the lodging for everyone here at the beach. She was so tired, though, so I volunteered to bring these to everyone."

Mikoshiba scratched at his head with his free hand.

"Most everyone's asleep, but I'll go ahead and distribute these to those who are still awake and want an extra blanket."

"I'll help!" Gou chimed.

She was so cute!

"That's everybody," Mikoshiba announced, plopping down in the sand on a dune just behind his own tent. Gou crouched beside him, joining him.

"Did you need an extra blanket?" She suddenly asks, horrified that there hadn't been any spares for him. She's heard about his tent-mate drama, and had already gone to check on the senior earlier. He was in fine condition, but wouldn't be released til morning.

"I'll be fine," Mikoshiba admitted.

Gou wasn't in any rush to return to her room. Amakata would already be asleep, she was so exhausted from sitting in the shade all day, avoiding the sun as usual but encouraging everyone on from the sidelines. Gou hadn't had the chance to talk or see Mikoshiba all day, so she thought she'd take a moment now to amend that.

Mikoshiba felt physically exhausted, but hadn't had a moment to just talk to Gou and was in no rush to cut his only chance short.

"Do you feel ready for Nationals?" Gou asks.

Mikoshiba shrugs, and then smirks confidently, "I'll be alright."

Gou nods, watching the dark waves roll in and out. They're low now, but she can tell certain tents that are too close to the tide will wake up to quite the surprise in the morning.

It's late and the sky is dark but she can still make out clouds. No stars, which is disappointing.

Mikoshiba must think the same thing.

"Stupid clouds," he grumbles. "Blocking a perfectly good night!"

A thought occurs to Gou.

"Do you think it'll rain?"

"It was a perfect day all day today. I wouldn't think so."

Gou nods slowly, not so convinced.

"How'd Rin look out there?" She asks. This surprises Mikoshiba. More so when he thinks back and realizes he doesn't remember seeing much of Rin all day.

"You didn't see him out there?"

Gou shakes her head, though Mikoshiba can't make out as much in the dark.

"I was so busy helping keep records and handing out supplies, running errands for Miss Amakata…I don't think I saw you out there but once or twice!"

Mikoshiba should feel sad about that, but the way she giggles the fact just makes him smile.

"He hasn't tried to talk to you, has he?"

Gou doesn't answer immediately.

"…I'm sure he's busy."

Mikoshiba hits the sand.

"Bullshit! He should make time for his sister instead of holding some kind of grudge-!"

"Grudge? Is Rin mad at me?!"

Mikoshiba flinches but before he even can come up with an excuse (Or worse; admit the truth) a droplet hits his nose.

Followed by another…and another.

In just a few short seconds, rain suddenly is drilling down on them. Gou is on her feet instantly, searching for her discarded flashlight with little luck in the dark. Without thinking much of it, Mikoshiba grabs her wrist and pulls her along with him towards his tent.

The two dive in, suddenly protected by the layered tent as torrents of rain washes over the tents. Gou peaks out the tent's opening, frowning as the rain waves down and blinds any sight of the lodgings or the path up to them.

"Wait the rain out here a bit," Mikoshiba offers, thankful for the towel left over from practice in his tent. He offers it to Gou first, who quickly dries her hair before handing it to him to do the same.

Gou sits on her knees in one corner of the tent while Mikoshiba occupies the other, cross-legged.

After a moment, he realizes how ridiculous that they've managed to put the most space between themselves within this small tent (make smaller as the hard-hitting rain pushes at the walls of the tent, urging them to collapse), and he slides to the center of the tent, unfolding the blanket.

He motions for her to come closer, which she does, lying down sideways facing him. He drapes the blanket over both of them and it's then that Gou realizes how cold she actually was, suddenly shivering and clinging to as much of the blanket is hers.

Mikoshiba shifts closer to her, allowing her more of the blanket, but now they're close enough that his breath hits her face and he realizes this would be a very compromising position to be caught in. He reminds himself it's just until the rain lets up, and that no one will be trekking to his tent for any reason anyway.

"Is Rin really mad at me?" Gou finally whispers. She sounds upset and Mikoshiba feels terrible that his slip up, his grudge match against Rin, is the cause. But he can't bring himself to tell Gou about the words he exchanged with Rin. That's a conversation Rin needs to have with his sister himself.

"No, he's…not," Mikoshiba comforts, slipping his arm under her head like a pillow, with his free hand dragging up to her arm, rubbing it for added warmth that she's grateful for.

"Are you certain?"

He tries nodding, which is difficult to do when you're tired and laying on your side.

"He's just focused on training. You know him and swimming…he's working hard out there, is all. That's why you didn't see much of him."

He closes his eyes because she's so warm and he is that tired, but he wants her to just stay here. Stay with him and don't think about Rin.

Think about me.

"Seijuro."

Mikoshiba's chest is a knot.

"Seijuro…" she tries, softer. "The rain is stopping. I have to go…"

Mikoshiba nods, humming an 'ok' but not moving. He's so comfortable.

Gou giggles quietly, "Miss Amakata will wake up and I won't be there."

"And?" Mikoshiba slips his arms around Gou, pulling her in against him and now she's trapped. He smirks because she's half-heartedly trying to squirm free but they both know she's as eager to leave as he is to let her go.

"Leave when the rain stops," he mumbles.

"It has."

Mikoshiba slips asleep before he can mutter, "has it now?"

His sleep doesn't last long.

"Captain, Toru's tent collapsed because he didn't- Captain?!"

Mikoshiba jumps awake, throwing the blanket fully over Gou who squeals at being found out.

Standing at the entrance to his tent, poking his head in, is Nitori.

"Gou..?"

"Ai!" Seijuro yelps, blood rushing to his face at the realization of how this must look. "It-it's not..! Nitori, this isn't..!"

"Oi, Ai, what's taking the Captain so long? Get his ass out here!"

That voice.

Rin.

Gou audibly squeaks and Mikoshiba hisses a quick curse. Rin is approaching their tent—if he finds Gou…

Mikoshiba is on his feet, scrambling and shoving Nitori out after him by the collar.

"Get Gou out of here," he whispers the order, pushing around the first year to stop Rin just in time from entering the captain's tent.

"What's this about Toru's tent? Did he not nail the picks in deep enough?"

Rin is glaring at Mikoshiba, and for a moment the captain is afraid he suspects something.

He tries to look past Mikoshiba into his tent.

"Where's Ai?"

"I sent him back up to the lodgings. I left the hammer back with Miss Amakata."

Rin buys the excuse, or is too tired to argue, and merely turns around, yawning back to his own tent.

Mikoshiba sighs with relief, praying that Nitori can slip Gou out of the campsite and back to the lodgings without anyone seeing them.

Sure enough Toru's tent is collapsed and he and his roommate are arguing a ways off, because it was Toru's, a second year, responsibility to pitch the tent and, to really no one's surprise, he didn't properly set it.

Luckily, Seijuro kicks the picks in enough that he doesn't need a hammer, which is just as well because Ai comes up empty handed.

Rin makes note of this.

"Eh? Ai, I thought you went to get the hammer from Amakata's room?"

Ai looks to Mikoshiba, questioning if that was what he was doing, to which Mikoshiba quickly jumps to defend.

"Y-you know, Nitori, I remembered just after you left that the hammer is actually with Tachibana. I guess I sent you all that way for nothing, sorry!"

Nitori just nods slowly, but Rin looks suspicious and Mikoshiba makes a mental note to confront Nitori tomorrow and swear him to secrecy about him and Gou for the time being.

Rei wakes up with a crick in his neck, a result of being frequently kicked at by Nagisa who doesn't sleep still. He stretches outside of the tent, wiping sleep form his eyes. The sun is still red and low in the sky, but already have the campout is waking up and preparing for that morning's workout before Sasabe retrieves them all.

Miss Amakata and Gou arrive soon with breakfast in tow for everyone, and it's at this moment that Nagisa is wide awake, pushing past Rei from the entrance of their tent to reach breakfast. Rei is still groggy and slow and ends up several people behind Nagisa in the lineup for food.

By the time Rei gets his portion of breakfast ("Morning, Rei!" "Morning, Gou!") and joins Nagisa and Nitori, sitting off to the side, Nagisa is already done with his meal and whispering fiercely with Nitori.

"Rei! Rei, listen to this!"

Nagisa yanks Rei by his shirt sleeve, causing his balance to shift and half his breakfast to land in the sand. Before Rei can chastise Nagisa for this, he's being pulled further in towards the two, who seemed more preoccupied with watching their surroundings than Rei's food.

"Nitori, last night, went to get captain Mikoshiba for Toru's tent? And he saw Gou in the tent with him!"

Rei forgets all about chewing Nagisa out for his breakfast.

"G-Gou?!"

Nagisa nods, "in Mikoshiba's tent! Then, Mikoshiba had Nitori run Gou back up to her lodging!"

Nitori nods, confirming. "Gou didn't say a word, just thanked me and ran inside her room…"

Rei glances back at Gou, who happily hands out portions to the swimmers. When he tries looking for Rei, he's surprised to see the Samezuka captain (well, not that surprised) approaching the three of them.

"Oi, Nitori, I need to talk to you!" The three of them jump, and Rei can't tell if Mikoshiba sounds angry or tired or both.

Mikoshiba glances between Nagisa and Rei and something on his face gives away his realization that they know, and suddenly he's more determined to speak to Nitori. Like damage control. Keep him from telling anyone.

Nitori jogs over to his Captain, who grips his shoulder and speaks quietly, just so Nitori can hear.

A moment later, Nitori returns to Nagisa and Rei, his eyes down cast.

"What did Mikoshiba want?!" Nagisa asks, as if he doesn't have some inkling as to what it was.

Nitori glances nervously, as if expecting Mikoshiba to be standing over him, watching him.

"He asked I keep last night to myself; not tell anyone else," that confirms what Rei thought. That Mikoshiba knows he and Nagisa know. "He especially doesn't want Rin to know. He didn't say it, but I could tell that's really what he meant."

"So don't let Rin know," Rei sums.

"Know what?"

The trio flinch. Sure enough, standing behind them is Rin.

"I-if we tell you, then you'll know!" Nagisa tries to cheer, putting on his innocent facade. Rin is having none of that.

"Know what?"

"Th-that Haru has been training in secret…a-after everyone else finished, yesterday, he did an extra rep! His time is going down drastically! He was telling u-us yesterday, he thinks he could for sure beat you."

Rin watches Rei, debating whether that's true or not (Or if it bothers him) before scoffing, smiling with those damn razor blades of his, "If that's what he thinks."

Rei sighs with relief.

Practice starts and they're at the indoor pool today. Stretches and drills take up the morning and for a bit of sport and friendly competition, they decide to have some sort of silly relay. Samezuka's team, being that much larger than Iwatobi's, breaks into several sub teams of four, mostly friends pairing of with friends. Distance swimmers complain at the large advantage, this being a 400m relay, but nonetheless group up and delegate one swimmer for each style.

Iwatobi takes the center lane, having to represent their school against a fool heat of Samezuka swimmers.

With the unevenness in numbers, Mikoshiba ends up sitting out the relay, acting as referee. He stands behind the set backstroke swimmers, holding out the wait between his call for go and set, allowing the anticipation to build in the swimmers before the race begins.

Samezuka's sprint relay team, with reinstated Rin, is doing well, as is Iwatobi's one team. Most of the distance swimmer groups from Samezuka have given up trying to seriously compete with the middle lane teams, though Mikoshiba makes note of how much better a few of his teammates have gotten since the start of the season.

Rei pushes off before Rin, but his swimming isn't nearly as strong and Iwatobi loses their lead in the Butterfly. It's at Rin's turnaround that Mikoshiba feels a finger tap his shoulder.

"Gou!"

Everyone is standing in front of Mikoshiba, cheering on their teammates, that no one is looking back at them.

"Is everything alright?" She asks, referring to last night. Mikoshiba blushes, "Yeah. You get back alright?"

She nods.

Mikoshiba glances, double checking, at the swimmers beside them, so intently focused on the relay, before diving in for a quick kiss with Gou.

Gou returns the kiss, but when they pull apart, she asks, "What was that for?"

Mikoshiba shrugs.

"I haven't been able to do that all weekend."

Mikoshiba's face is crimson and Gou is blushing too (She's so cute, Mikoshiba thinks) and neither of them are watching the relay anymore.

Neither of them notice that it's now the free style leg, or that they're lined up perfectly with the Samezuka sprint team's lane.

Or that Rin is staring at them from within the pool, having witnessed the kiss between his captain and sister.

A/N: This chapter I shamelessly admit I caterered more to match the song than the story itself~ it's such a filler chapter that does nothing for the story as a whole...But~ I still like it!

Mikoshiba and Rin's confrontation is revealed~ That scene refers to the night Samezuka ran to Gou and Kent at the cafe~ I kinda wish I'd had more Rin in this...looking back, I should've done some more from his POV instead of simply 'oh, no one really say him, he's avoiding everyone~" :p

I also skimmed completely over the training to get straight to SeiGou fluff~ I wanted to extend their conversation, in and out of the tent, but everytime I'd go back to it, I didn't know what else to add so they just get tired really quickly haha sorry~! I threw in the bit with Rei cause I needed the balance of a third party POV since I don't have any Rin... :/

Also, Mikoshiba immediately jumps to the conclusion that Toru's tent fell cause he didn't hammer the stakes in well enough and sends Nitori to "get the hammer", which Rin buys. Until this very second, I thought "Rin should be suspicious! He didn't tell Mikoshiba exactly what was wrong with Toru's tent? Why'd he send Nitori for the hammer?!" But jsut now I realized maybe Rin assumed Nitori had told Mikoshiba that they needed the hammer; he doesn't know that Nitori only had a chance to see Gou in the tent. Except, now I also realize that how screwed would Mikoshiba had been if Toru didn't need a hammer, but rather something else~ Then, Rin would've called him on his lie~ Gah, just ignore that haha it worked out for them all, didn't it?

Rin was really calm in this chapter, aside from the flashback; again, I prlly should've done something from his point of view cause everyone is just lying to him and he's like, "tsk, whatever~" (Well, maybe that is like Rin..?) Sorry if any characters were OOC~ Hope you enjoyed this chapter! End is near~!