Hello! So this is chapter 11. Just so there isn't confusion, this chapter takes place at the end of episode 8.

I decided not to let Angel hear about Sousuke's shoulder from Kisumi, because I kinda want Sousuke to tell him that. Also, I'm planning on starting another fic which will be drabbles about Angel and Sousuke. I hope I do well, I've never been good with drabbles! :D

Episode 9 comes out tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to post a new chapter pretty soon. ^_^

Anyway, I hope you like the new chapter! Please, leave a review! :)

Edit - English speech is in bold and italics (like this)

Chapter 11

"Oh!"

Crap …

I bent down, picking up the soda can that I had just accidentally dropped. Luckily, it wasn't opened, so there was no spill, but now I feared that would happen if I did open it… I didn't want to get all soaked and sticky.

Makoto and I were once again at Iwatobi Swim Club Returns. The groups hadn't arrived yet, so we were taking a little break by the vending machines. I had started coming here more often that Makoto – I had grown to hate being at home, so I always stayed as late as coach Sasabe and almost didn't see my parents. We were mainly communicating through text messages and notes left on the fridge. Even when I was home, I mostly stayed in my room with earphones on – by now I couldn't stand hearing them whisper like that.

"Angel-kun, are you feeling alright?" Makoto asked me.

"Hm?" I looked into Makoto's worried eyes. "What makes you think that I'm not?"

I still had no idea what was troubling my parents! I was almost certain that my mother wanted us to go back to Wales, but so far they hadn't told me anything. They were still keeping maddeningly quiet about what was troubling them, which annoyed me to no end. After all, if they were really discussing leaving Japan, I deserved to give my two cents about it too, right?

What annoyed me even more was that my parents didn't seem to realize that keeping quiet about it was taking its toll on me. My friends could see how troubled I was ... so why were my own parents so blind?

"… You've been spacing out a lot recently and you keep dropping your stuff." Makoto pointed out. "You're not so clumsy normally. I'm worried about you."

"A-ah … thanks, Makoto, really …" I replied quickly. "But you shouldn't worry about me. I'll be fine. Besides, you need to focus on advancing to nationals, right?"

"I think that my friends are far more important." Makoto insisted, frowning slightly as he looked at me. "You seemed to have lost weight recently too. That's not a good sign."

"Really?" I blinked and looked down at myself. I couldn't tell for sure if I had actually lost weight or not, but I took Makoto's word for it. "Well … I actually haven't had any appetite lately, so I don't eat as much as I need to."

"That's not good." He now looked even more worried. "So there is something troubling you?"

"Um …" I hesitated for a few seconds, but ultimately decided to tell him what was going on. Maybe he could help me? Out of all my friends, I thought that Makoto was the best person to talk to about my problems. Haru would probably say something vague about water, Nagisa would try to help me but eventually would get so distracted that he would switch to another topic, and Rei would give me some theoretical solution which would have no practical use at all. "Actually …. There is something that's been on my mind for a while …" I muttered. "I'm not entirely sure about it, but I think that my parents are planning to go back to Wales."

"What? Did they tell you that?" He asked, staring at me wide-eyed.

"No …" I shook my head. "But I sometimes hear some of the things they talk about. Just last week my mother was complaining that my dad was working too much. Her exact words were: "You didn't use to work until so late before." So … I think that she fears that she and my dad are starting to grow distant because of my dad's work." I sighed.

"Oh, I see." He muttered. "So, does this mean that you will go back with your parents?"

"… I think so. I mean, they wouldn't let me stay here on my own, would they?" I replied, sighing heavily. "I really don't want to leave, I love it here and I love being in the swim club!"

And if I leave, I won't get to see you guys ever again … and Sousuke too …

"We'd all be really sad if you left." Makoto frowned. "Have you told your parents that you want to stay here?"

"I haven't told them anything!" I replied, my voice becoming louder than before. "They don't even want to talk to me about it and it's seriously pissing me off! I should be able to discuss this with them, because I'm a part of the family too! Aren't I right?" I pouted.

Makoto looked a bit taken aback by my outburst, but then he quickly recovered.

"I think that it's best if you stay calm. Just tell your parents how you feel." He said. "Remember when Nagisa had a problem with his parents? It was solved by him talking to them."

"Yeah…" I nodded. "But Nagisa's problem was way different than mine…" I sighed. "But talking to them is the only plan I've got so far … maybe it will work?"

"Maybe." Makoto smiled. Then he turned his head away with a distant look in his eyes. I looked at him with curiosity. He couldn't be that troubled over my problem, right? So maybe he had something on his mind as well?

"Hm … it seems to me like you've got a problem too." I commented.

He looked back at me and then smiled gently as he shook his head.

"No, I don't." He replied. "I just … coach Sasabe told me today that he had found a new part-timer, so next week will be my last here. I just can't believe how quickly it was over." He may have realized how sad he sounded, because he quickly gave me a soft smile. "But that alright! Now I can focus on my swimming, right?"

"Yeah …" I agreed quietly, thinking to myself that Makoto didn't seem to care so much about his own swimming right at that moment.

"Ugh …" I groaned as I rolled on my stomach, burying my nose in my pillow.

I was so nervous that I wished I could just disappear! But I couldn't – I was here and I couldn't run away from my own problems anymore. I had decided that today was the day I'd talk to my parents. This was why I hadn't gone with Makoto to the swim club. I actually felt kind of guilty for not being there for him today – it was Makoto's last day as a coach and he looked pretty sad that he wouldn't be going there again. He really must have loved coaching those kids, I gathered.

I stood up from the bed and went to the mirror. I had gone over what I'd say to my parents a million times in my mind and yet I felt like my arguments weren't compelling enough. I tossed my bangs away from my eyes and stared at my reflection, trying to encourage myself to leave the comfort of my bedroom. My parents were in the living room right now, but somehow I just couldn't go there and spill my heart out to them. The thing was that I wasn't really afraid of confronting them about their irritating behaviour. I was actually afraid that they would confirm my suspicions. I was afraid that they'd tell me that we had to leave Japan for good.

"Huh?"

Just as I was ready to head to the door, my phone buzzed, announcing that I had received a text message. I blinked, a bit shocked at the odd timing, and then went to see who it had texted me. To my huge surprise, it turned out to be Sousuke.

[Can you come to Samezuka today? I need to talk to you.]

I bit my lower lip. If I had received such a message from him on any other day, I would have been darting to the train station while typing my reply, but today … I couldn't do it today. I needed to talk to my parents and sort this out before it became an even bigger problem. With a tight feeling in my stomach, I sent him a text.

[I'm sorry, I can't do it today. :( Maybe some other time?]

I anxiously awaited his reply. It took Sousuke a painfully long time to reply – each second that passed without my cell phone buzzing was like a little needle in my heart. Had I offended him so badly? Maybe Sousuke wanted to tell me something urgent? What if … what if he had finally decided to tell me what was bothering him and I had just blown away all chances of him opening up to me?

"Ugh!" I exclaimed and sat on the floor, curling up in a ball.

Why did everything have to have such bad timing! Why did my parents have to act like little children? If they had just been honest with me from the beginning, now I could be on the train to Samezuka Academy. Instead, I was lying on my floor in emotional turmoil.

Note to self – I will never hide anything from my own children. Ever!

Finally I heard that I had received a text message and immediately jumped up. I grabbed my phone, then dropped it accidentally – my hands were shaking so much! I took it from the floor and quickly opened the new text I had received.

To my shock, Sousuke didn't seem to be mad or upset. In fact, he was even apologizing for bothering me while I was busy. As I stared at my phone, reading the message over and over and trying to find some hidden meaning that showed that Sousuke was actually angry with me, I suddenly realized that I had never seen him act even slightly selfish. He never demanded anything, he always looked after other people – well, mostly Rin and me, actually – and he never complained.

He's such a nice and selfless guy … Oh my god, this is probably one of the few things he's ever asked anyone to do for him! And I said no …

I stood up, clenching my phone tightly. No … I was going to see him today! I would go and talk to my parents. If I was honest with them, our conversation wouldn't be long and I'd still have time to go and talk to Sousuke. I nodded. Yes, this was going to happen!

I quickly went downstairs and saw that my mother was just coming out of the kitchen. She gave me a soft smile – when she and my dad weren't whispering to each other, they treated me nicer than ever which of course made me even more suspicious. I took a deep breath and went to her.

"Mum, I think that we should talk." I knew that my new-found courage wouldn't last long, so I decided to say what I wanted to right there. "Okay, here we go … I am sixteen years old! I am a part of this family and I am old enough to be able to make rational decisions. I have noticed that you and dad are discussing something and I think that it's bad parenting on your part that you've hidden it from me for so long. You may have thought that I hadn't noticed anything, but in fact, I did notice and the thought that my own parents don't trust me has been bothering me for some time now. So please, just tell me what's going on!"

My mother was silent after my speech, looking a bit shocked. Then she smiled again and nodded.

"You're right, sweetie. We shouldn't have hidden anything from you." She stroked my cheek affectionately. "Come, let's go in the living room. Your father and I will tell you everything, I promise."