Chapter 11

"Sousuke-kun!" Kaori called out to the dark-haired boy who was walking out of the classroom, his school bag slung over one shoulder. Sousuke turned around in surprise and looked at the small pink-haired girl rushing towards him. He smiled. She was proudly wearing her class president badge, which she had acquired just last week. Winning the election had seemed to give her a huge confidence boost. She seemed happier and more energetic. "Sousuke-kun, wait!"

Sousuke turned and smiled at her lightly. "Don't you have a student council meeting?"

"Not today," Kaori replied, her cheeks slightly flushed. She looked up at Sousuke, embarrassed. She hadn't been alone with him much; she mostly only interacted with Sousuke when Rin and Kisumi were around. But with Rin leaving for Australia and Kisumi going to a different middle school, she'd been finding more opportunity to be alone with her secret crush. "There's no meeting. I just want to get home. C-can we w-walk together?" she asked nervously.

Sousuke nodded. "Of course."

They walked in silence for a little while, before Kaori looked up at Sousuke.

"Sousuke-kun. Can… can you cook?" she asked him hesitantly.

Sousuke rubbed his chin. "I'm not bad. My mother is usually working, so I make dinner for myself a lot. It's kind of fun, sometimes. Why? Do you know how to cook, Kaori-chan?"

Kaori flushed. "Not very well."

"Why did you ask?"

"It's just… there's this party that the student council members are having," Kaori explained with a sigh. "It's tomorrow. And we're all supposed to bring a dish. It's tradition that the first year members are supposed to bring a dessert that they made themselves. But I've never made a dessert before." She flushed slightly. "I mean… I made Valentine's Day chocolate in elementary school, but I can't take that!"

"Why don't you ask you're your Mom for help?" Sousuke asked.

"I can't. My Aunt is having a baby, so my mother is over at her place with her." She looked up eagerly. "Apparently, Kisumi-kun is going to have a little brother! Mom says he'll probably be really cute!"

Sousuke chuckled. He could picture Kisumi and Kaori as babies. "I wonder if he'll have pink hair like you."

"I hope not," Kaori mumbled. She fingered a strand of her hair nervously. "Kisumi-kun always got a lot of attention because of his hair color, but when I was in Iwatobi Elementary, all anyone did was call me bubblegum. It was really hard."

Sousuke shrugged. "Well. If they hadn't bullied you, you would never have transferred to Sano and met us!"

Kaori smiled. "True. But this doesn't solve my problem! What am I going to do? I just got elected to the student council, I really want to make a good impression with the seniors! Do you think I should go out and buy a dessert? But that would be cheating, right? I can't cheat! How would I ever be able to live with myself?"

Sousuke cleared his throat and rubbed his neck nervously. "Huh. Okay, look. I once watched a show on television about how to make almond pocky. I think if we looked up the recipe on the internet, we could make it. Do you think that would work?"

Kaori beamed and flushed pink. "Really? Sousuke-kun, will you help me?"

"Of course."

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Kaori bit her nails nervously as she waited for the oven timer to go off. She and Sousuke had spent the entire evening trying to make the almond pocky that they had looked up on the internet. The kitchen was a complete mess; Kaori could only hope she would have time to clean it before her mother came back home.

"Oye. Don't bite your nails like that. There'll be nothing left," Sousuke muttered, pulling Kaori's fingers away from her mouth. She looked down at her little stubs of nails and flushed, hiding her hands behind her back. He sighed. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. And if it doesn't, we already bought some readymade from the bakery so we can pass them off as yours."

"I don't want to do that," Kaori mumbled. She glanced at the oven eagerly. "How much longer will it-"

Ding! The oven let off a small ringing noise and Sousuke gently reached for the oven mitt, opening the door carefully. Kaori noticed how precise and careful his movements were. He neatly set the baking tray on the table and waited for it to cool down. He noticed Kaori peeking over his shoulder eagerly.

"They seem all right," he said. Using the oven mitt, he carefully picked up one stick and blew on it for a few seconds to cool it, before taking a small bite. He grinned and nodded, as Kaori sighed in relief. He handed her the stick. "Here, you try it. Careful, it's hot."

Kaori took the stick from him and bit down eagerly, munching the biscuit. It tasted delicious. She looked up to thank Sousuke, before noticing that his cheeks were extremely pink and his mouth was slightly open. She blinked at him. "What is it, Sousuke-kun?"

Sousuke cleared his throat nervously. "I just… I thought you would bite from the other end…"

Kaori flushed red. She had bitten off the pocky stick from the same place where Sousuke had taken a bite. Was that… an indirect kiss? She was horrified as she realized Sousuke was thinking the same thing and she tossed the remaining chunk of pocky on the counter. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I w-was just h-happy that…."

Sousuke chuckled, composing himself and ruffling her pink hair gently. "Baka. It's okay."

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Kaori got off the bus, struggling a little with her large backpack. She had run straight to Samezuka after her cram school class on Sunday morning. It was still early, and the Samezuka campus was relatively deserted. Kaori hurried over to the swimming pool building, and noticed that it was the only building which seemed inhabited. She spotted a vaguely familiar head of silver hair.

"Nitori-kun!" Kaori called out.

Nitori whirled around. He seemed nervous as Kaori approached him. "K-kaori-senpai! What are you doing here? Are you here to see Sousuke-senpai?" he stammered out. Kaori nodded and smiled. Sousuke had mentioned to her that Nitori was working hard; for some reason, Sousuke felt that the little silver-haired boy reminded him of himself, although Kaori didn't really see it. "Sousuke-kun told me that you've been working really hard! Good for you!"

Nitori nodded. "Hai! I'm very grateful to Sousuke-senpai for coaching me!"

Kaori smiled. "To be honest, I never saw him as the teaching type. Anyway, can you go tell him and Rin that I'm here? I promise I'll only take a few minutes. I just want to wish them luck for regionals."

Nitori nodded obediently and disappeared into the swimming pool area, while Kaori set her bag down on a chair in the lobby. It was slightly heavy; filled with her books and also a bunch of things that she had brought over for Rin and Sousuke. She ran a hand through her pink hair, slightly nervous. She hadn't seen Sousuke since the morning after she'd gotten drunk, a few days ago. She bit her lip as his large figure appeared at the door and approached her. He was shirtless, a mere towel wrapped around his shoulders.

"Kaori," Sousuke greeted her. His blue-green eyes were shining at the sight of her, although his lips barely moved. "What are you doing here this early? Don't you have cram school?"

Kaori raised an eyebrow. She bit back a snappy retort and shook her head. "I just came from class. I wanted to wish you luck since you leave for regionals tomorrow and I have a test, so I won't be able to see you off." She hesitated and adjusted her glasses slightly. "And, um, I wanted to clear things up before you left. You know. Since we haven't talked after…"

"The night you got drunk?" Sousuke asked, as Kaori flushed deeply.

"Urusai. Shut up," she muttered.

Sousuke sighed and grabbed her hand, forcing her to face him. "Kaori, promise me you'll never do anything that reckless. You seemed really upset that morning, so I didn't say anything. But that had better be a one-time thing. Tell me you won't try it again. I might not be there to prevent it from going wrong."

Kaori blinked and looked up at him. "I won't," she replied, with a slight pout. "But maybe you should just stay with me all the time and keep an eye on me to make sure?"

"Don't pull that cute act with me," Sousuke muttered, but he leaned forward and pecked her pouting lips. He stroked her cheek and wrapped his other arm around her waist before leaning forward to kiss her again. Kaori melted into the kiss. Sousuke bit her lip and Kaori grasped his shoulder in surprise. He pulled away suddenly, hissing in pain.

"S-sousuke? Are you all right?" Kaori asked, shocked as Sousuke clutched his shoulder. She reached forward hesitantly, her eyes wide. Sousuke glanced up and forced a smile.

"It's fine," he promised weakly.

"Are you sure? Did it hurt?" she glanced down at her hands. "I didn't realize my nails were so sharp, gomen. Here, let me see it-"

"No. It's fine," Sousuke promised, straightening up quickly. "It's just a crick. I must have slept wrong or something. I'll exercise it out later. Don't look at me with those big eyes, it's nothing. It happens all the time, okay? Don't worry so much." He moved closer to her and grasped her hand. "Where were we?"

"You were telling me not to act cute," Kaori pointed out, although she was still looking nervously at his shoulder.

"Right." Sousuke paused and sighed. "I'm sorry I tried to break up with you."

"I'm sorry I took it so badly. I know you meant well. You're just worried about me, I understand that. I think it's very sweet of you." Kaori sighed and looked up at Sousuke sheepishly. "If it makes you feel any better, I still got a decent score on the test I wrote the day you dumped me."

Rin sauntered into the lobby area. He looked at the embracing couple and raised an eyebrow coolly at Kaori. "Oye. How many times do I have to tell you not to show up here? You're a distraction to my entire team. They all tried to come running out here the moment Nitori announced you were waiting outside. I had to shove Mikoshiba back into the pool," he grumbled. "It's bad enough when my sister comes…"

Kaori frowned. "When did you become so mean, Rin-kun?"

"Nitori said you wanted to see me too. What, distracting Sousuke isn't enough?"

"If you must know, Gou-chan sent me with homemade food for you so that you could eat well before regionals. She put a lot of effort into it, so at least call her and thank her," Kaori replied, opening her bag and pulling out a large box of homemade food. She shoved it at Rin, who seemed a little surprised.

"Oh. Thanks for bringing it over." He turned around. "Well, don't take too long, you two," he muttered, before disappearing back to the pool area. Kaori turned to Sousuke.

"Oh, um, I brought you something too," Kaori said with a small smile. She handed Sousuke a small box, which he took and lifted the edge of the lid to peek inside. Surprised, he looked up at Kaori with a small smile.

"Almond pocky?" he asked gently. "The same recipe?"

Kaori nodded, blushing slightly. "You remembered, huh?"

"Of course." Sousuke leaned forward and kissed Kaori again, sliding his fingers into her soft hair. When he pulled away, he pressed his forehead to hers and stared into her hopeful, purple eyes. Sousuke smiled lightly and shook the small box of pocky. "I'll save them for after the relay."

Kaori nodded. "Good luck, Sousuke."

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Rin frowned as he entered the hotel room that they were staying in, the night before regionals. Sousuke was nowhere to be seen. Where had he gone? He sighed when he realized that there was nothing left on Sousuke's bed except his phone and a small box of what looked like snacks.

Rin leaned back on his bed, resting his head on his pillow just as he heard a loud ringing noise. He glanced at Sousuke's bed and noticed his phone ringing. Frowning at the jarring noise, he leaned over and peeked at the phone. There was a picture of a pink-haired girl smiling shyly at the camera, her cheeks slightly red and with a pair of large glasses resting on her face. Rin sighed as the phone continued to ring. He picked it up.

"You're a really clingy girlfriend, you know that?" Rin asked Kaori with a frown.

"Oye. Why are you answering Sousuke's phone?" Kaori demanded. "Give it to him."

"He was on the phone with you for practically the entire journey here. And he called you as soon as we reached the hotel. And god knows how many more times he's talked to you that I don't know about. Give it a rest, he needs a break."

Kaori huffed. "You just wait, Rin. I have a big album of pictures from elementary school that I'm going to dust off once you get a girlfriend. Besides, you're just jealous because you're miserable and alone. Now give Sousuke the phone or I will call your sister."

"Baka. He's not here. He must have gone down to eat or something. Call later. Or better yet, just let him sleep. It's late," Rin grumbled. He sighed as he remembered how oddly Sousuke had been acting lately. And where had he disappeared to this late at night? All the same, Rin wasn't going to make Kaori worry. When he heard no response, he frowned into the phone. "Kaori? Are you there?"

"I'm here," Kaori mumbled. She sighed. "Rin… can we be serious for a minute? Is there something wrong with Sousuke-kun that I don't know about?"

Rin frowned. "Why would you say that?"

"He's been acting weird lately."

Rin felt his heart skip a beat. He knew it was true. He'd been feeling for a while that something was wrong, but to hear somebody else so close to Sousuke say it, made it all the more real. He held the phone tightly. "I don't think so."

"Really? You haven't noticed anything odd about his behavior?" Kaori asked worriedly. "It's just… did he tell you that he tried to dump me last week? He yelled at me about my studies and he was acting so weird. He apologized later, but… I'm really worried about him. That's why I'm being so clingy."

Rin frowned. Sousuke had tried to dump Kaori? That wasn't normal at all. "No, he didn't say anything about that. Besides, why are you asking me stuff about your relationship? I didn't even know you guys liked each other until recently."

Kaori bit her lip. "I don't know. I just… I get the feeling that he's going to leave me soon."

Rin sighed. He couldn't believe he was doing this. He ran a hand through his dark red hair and frowned. "Look. I'm not going to sit here the night before regionals and assure you that your boyfriend loves you. Relax. He's fine. I'll bring him back to you in the same condition that he left, okay? Besides, Sousuke doesn't take chances when it comes to you."

"What does that mean?"

"Good night, Kaori."

"Matsuoka Rin! You tell me what that means right now!" Kaori demanded.

Rin groaned. "Fine…"

"All right, everyone!" the teacher called out from the front of the class. A nine-year old Rin was sitting near the back with Sousuke, the two of them trying to flick the other's pencil off the table. "For this project, we're going to work in pairs. Now- I want everyone to split into boy-girl teams, okay? You have two minutes, hurry up and find a partner!"

"Boy-girl partners?' Rin grumbled, looking around the class in disappointment. People were already reluctantly moving out of their seats to find partners. "I hate this. It's so awkward asking a girl to be your partner. Who are you going to ask?" he asked Sousuke.

Sousuke gestured to the front. "Kaori-chan is sitting alone there."

"No fair! I want to ask Kaori-chan! She would never say no. Damn it, Kisumi has like, three girls asking to be his partner," Rin cried, a little worried. He turned to look at Sousuke. "All right. I'll play rock, paper, scissors with you for Kaori-chan." He held out his fist.

Sousuke frowned. "She's not an ice cream." He turned to look at the shy girl at the front of the class, who was looking around in a slightly panicked manner, her cheeks flushed at the thought of asking a boy to be her partner. Sousuke's own cheeks had a light tinge to them. "With Kaori, I'm not willing to take the chance of losing."

Kaori gasped. "He really said that? That's so sweet! He's so adorable!"

Rin frowned. "All right, all right. That's enough. Don't you have a test tomorrow? Go to sleep."

"All right. Good night, Rin-kun."

Rin grunted non-commitally, before hanging up the phone and tossing it back on Sousuke's bed. He lay back on his own bed and put his arms behind his head, closing his eyes. He wondered briefly why it bothered him when Kaori was so worried about Sousuke.

Maybe because it would be nice to have someone worry about him like that too.

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(A/N- Following this is the whole scene where Rin finds out about Sousuke's injury and the Samezuka team have a nice, emotional moment and then they lose to Iwatobi, but they develop some nice bromance. :D)

"Your voice sounds different," Kaori said with a teasing giggle.

Sousuke frowned. He was sitting on the train back to Iwatobi, after regionals had ended. Samezuka had lost to Iwatobi; it was a close call. Kaori had thought that Sousuke would be upset. Yet, there was something different in his voice. For the first time in a while, he sounded happier, more… free. Kaori felt a sudden weight lift off her own chest that she hadn't known was there.

"Urusai," Sousuke murmured quietly, but he sounded pleased. "I guess… I guess I found something I was looking for."

Kaori smiled. "I'm glad. Come home soon, okay?"

"Hai, hai, we're almost there. I'll call you once we reach."

"Okay. I love you."

"Mm. I love you too," Sousuke murmured, before cutting the call and pocketing his phone. He glanced to his left, only to see Rin staring at him with his big, red eyes. Sousuke raised an eyebrow at him. "What's wrong? Why do you look so shocked?" he asked his friend.

"I… K-kaori-chan…" Rin trailed off, his voice trembling. "She doesn't know, does she? About your shoulder? About the fact that you're not going to college? Sousuke… how is she going to take it? Just before the relay she was telling me how much she loves you!"

Sousuke raised an eyebrow. "You talk to my girlfriend?"

"I answered your phone when you weren't in the room. But how can you be so calm about this? She's going to Tokyo and you won't be there!" Rin cried. "It's all she ever talks about! It'll break her heart!"

Sousuke stiffened. "That's why you can't tell her."

"But…"

"I know. I can't hide it forever. I'm not an idiot. But she can't find out until after her entrance exam, do you understand? Under no circumstances can Kaori know that I'm giving up swimming until after she writes her entrance exam. I'm serious about this, Rin. I've been keeping up a lie for months now, I'm not going to let it fall apart just before the biggest step in her career."

Rin hesitated and leaned back in his seat. "She suspects something."

"Yes. But she doesn't know yet. I've made sure of that. If she finds out, she'll start having second thoughts." Sousuke took a deep breath. "I know Kaori. She's sensitive. She'll screw up her exam. She'll start saying she doesn't want to go to Tokyo even though she doesn't mean it. I won't be responsible for her missing out on her dream."

Rin looked at Sousuke for a long moment and then nodded. "Okay. I'll make sure nobody tells her. When's the exam?"

Sousuke took a deep breath. "In two weeks."

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A/N – Phew! Sorry that took so long! The next one should up in a day or two, I'm just editing!