Hey Guys. Sorry for the extended break. I have no idea why I struggled to find a way to finish this story, but I finally did finish. It's not really long, but I think the next series will come a little easier since I have more ideas and more material to work with. Thanks to all who read and commented and favorited and stuck with me through this. Hope you like.

Dear Diary,

It's amazing how fast this year went by. I never would have thought that this is where I would be spending my high school years. But honestly, now that I'm here… I can't imagine it being any other way.

Colorful balloons were scattered through the Samezuka swimmer's dorm common room. Minami and Takuya were angrily waving chords in each other's faces as they argued near a karaoke machine. Shouta was busy stacking sodas near a table as other members of the Samezuka team were busy moving tables and hanging decorations.

Ai was currently perched on a step ladder, one arm trying to brace a decorative banner above the doorway as her other hand tried to push a pin in.

"Almost…th…Ah!" she gave a cry as the felt the ladder shift from a large bump. The tack flew from her hands as her arms flailed about while she helplessly reeled back. She gave a cringe at the future impact from the floor till she felt a pair of muscled arms catch her. She opened her eyes seeing a pair of stern maroon eyes staring down at her.

"Ah Rin-senpai…thanks for saving me." She murmured in appreciation.

"Careful! You almost broke your neck." He said as he set her down before glaring a pair of second years who bumped Ai's stepstool while they were carrying in a table. "And watch where you're going with that!" he barked.

"Sorry Ai." One of them replied

"It's okay. Oh, put that one over in the corner so we have an extra space for the food." Ai stated.

"Got a lot going on." Rin commented as he watched the rest of the swimmers setting up. "Do they do this every year?"

"Yeah. Kind of an informal send off. It varies. Sometimes at a restaurant. Sometimes in the dorm." Ai replied as she began to step on the ladder only to be held back from a gentle tug from Rin.

"Let me." He said taking the tack from her. "Don't want you falling again."

"Thanks. Oh!" She glanced over at her phone. "It's looking good. I'm going to go pick up the pizzas. You got it from here Shouta."

"Got it!" He commented giving a thumbs up.

"Need any help?" Rin asked coming down from the ladder.

"That be great." She answered. "It's going to be quite a few boxes."

"Where is the captain anyway?" Rin asked while they were walking across the campus.

"I had some of the third years distract him. I think they were going to a movie." Ai replied .

"That'll keep him busy for awhile." Rin commented.

Sometime later….

"It seems like the year flew by." Ai commented bringing her jacket tighter around her as she bristled at the cold. "I'll be glad when it's finally spring."

"Yeah me too." Rin replied glancing around the street as he and AI were walking through. It was busy filled with other people and families as they wandered through the shopping district.

""I like Spring. It's my favorite season. Like the whole world is waking after a long sleep. The cherry blossoms in bloom." She added her eyes becoming wistful. "They have this dance as they fall to…"

"Hey Rin! Ai!" Both of them jumped at the familiar call of the captain who was eagerly waving and running toward them with his roommate and another third year behind.

"Ah…Hi…hi Captain!" Ai greeted. Rin cringed at the sudden shrillness fighting the urge to smack his hand against his forehead.

"Funny bumping into you guys, but this is great! You can come to the arcade with us!" Seijirou added excitedly.

"Oh…um…we…me and Mastsuoka-senpai…" she started nervously.

"We're busy." Rin answered for her.

"Busy doing what?"

"Why do you have to know?"

"I'm the captain!" He proclaimed putting his hands on hips. "It's my job to know what's going on with my teammates."

"We…we're just…just…" Ai stammered.

"We're just going shopping." Rin said exasperated.

"Oh, so we can come with?" Seijriou asked.

"No!" Rin barked back.

"Why not?"

"Because there's no reason for you all to come with us." He answered. "We don't have to do everything together. Now we're running late. Have fun or whatever…" He edged Ai away from the other three. As they were walking away she glanced over to Seijirou who had a frustrated look on his face as the two third years behind her shot an apologetic gaze.

"Do you think he believed us?" she asked once they were out of ear shot.

"Who cares?" Rin replied back. He glanced down at her with a smirk. "You really suck at lying by the way."

"I tried." Ai said with a huff. "I was caught off guard."

"No you're just bad at lying." Rin answered giving her a gentle nudge. "It's fine. Just means you're honest. That's not a bad thing."

"I just wish I could be more forward like…" she stopped when her phone rang and she gave a curious stare at the contact before she answered it.

"Wha…wait…" Rin watched as her head spun around and her eyes widened. The next thing he felt was a jerk at his wrist as she suddenly darted off dragging him through the throngs of other shoppers.

"What's going on?" he asked confused.

"Seijriou's following us!"

"Why?!" Rin asked looking back. Sure enough, his eyes caught sight of a familiar mop of orange hair in the crowd.

"I don't know talk to them." Ai said tossing the phone at Rin as she continued to run. Rin fumbled the phone before he managed to catch it and bring it to his ear.

"You had one job!" He hissed out. "I don't care if you're third years…you…" he growled and hung up the phone. "Idiots."

Ai snatched the phone from him and kept running. "We…we need to outrun him!" She wheezed out.

"I can! You can't!" Rin commented as he began to pick up the pace now dragging AI with him. He looked back seeing her give a glare. "Well it's true!"

"Wha…wha…." Rin cursed hearing Ai start to wheeze before his eyes caught sight of an alley and he took a sharp turn.

Ai practically fell into him when they finally stopped. "Did…did…did we…" She stammered out as her hands fumbled in her purse. She gave a relieved smile when she managed to find her inhaler and she gave a few puffs. "Did we…" she stopped short when they saw Seijirou in the alley way.

'Go past us…' Rin thought as they both gently backed up into the alley. 'Go past us…'

'Oh no!' Ai thought with a fretful face when Seijriou eyes fell on them and he started walking toward them.

"What are we going to do?" she whispered before she glanced up anxiously at Rin.

Rin's mind felt a bullet train trying to find any solution that could get them out of this situation. When Seijirou was within ear shot of them he watched Ai stare up at him, her blue eyes frantic.

"Okay you two…" Seijirou started but was interrupted by Ai.

"How could you even say that?!" Ai suddenly cried out as she gave a few smacks at his chest. Rin glanced down at Ai's frantic blue eyes.

"Wha…"

"How could you say that to me?!" she repeated again her hands giving a few smacks against his chest. Rin's maroon eyes suddenly widened in realization.

"Well that's how I feel!" he barked back. "Like it or leave it!"

He watched as Ai gave a small cry with a shake of her head before she blindly smacked his chest a few times.

"You're the worst." She snapped. "You're the worst." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Seijirou stop witnessing the scene before him with a confused stare.

"Lighten the slaps…' Rin muttered as he grabbed her wrists.

"Sorry…" Ai whispered before she harshly pulled her hands away and gave a light shove to Rin.

"I never want to see you again!" she cried before she ran out pushing beside Seijirou.

"Fine!" Rin called out after her. As she pushed past him, he was met with an angry stare from Seijirou.

'Crap…' he thought seeing Seijirou's clenched fists.

"Matsuoka! We're talking about this later!" he snapped before he turned around following Ai.

Rin gave a sigh of relief before he realized they still had the pizzas to pick up. 'Now what?'

"Ai! Ai!" Ai turned around giving a wince as she saw Seijriou coming towards her. 'I was hoping he would stay with Rin…'

"What was that?" He asked gesturing back towards the alley.

"I…I…" There was another reason she hoped he would stay with Matsuoka. She had trouble coming up with another lie on the spot again.

"You were dating Matusoka weren't you?"

"We…."

"And that was you guys breaking up with him."

"Ah…." She glanced at his stern gold eyes. "Yes…" she murmured as sincerely as she could.

"You must be pretty sad."

"I…I am." She managed to get out as she avoided his gaze by staring down at her feet.

"Let's go get some ice cream!" Seijirou suddenly blurted out.

"What?" Ai exclaimed confused as he eagerly grabbed her wrist and began dragging her through the street.

"Yeah! That usually perks up my sister."

"Oh…okay." She responded. As Seijirou her was pulling her through the streets she managed to send out a garbled text.

"Figures" Rin asked with a scowl as he read the hastily sent out message saying he would have to pick up the pizza's. "How hard can it be?"

He was proven wrong by the mountain of pizza boxes that the restaurant brought out when he got there.

"All this?"

"Yep!" the shop owner replied merrily unabashed by Rin's stunned star.
Rin somehow managed to stack the boxes in his arms and manage to carefully walk out with a precarious tower. He stepped slowly managing to get peeks of the direction he was walking from behind the mountain of greasy cardboard. As he was turning a box from the top toppled out and onto the floor. "Son of a…"

"Oni-chan?" He jostled at the familiar voice of his sister and cursed as the pizza's teetered before settling back and he gave a sigh of relief. "Gou?"

"What are you doing?" she asked. He heard the pizza box picked up from the ground and set a top.

"I went to go pick up the pizza's for the farewell party."

"Oh for the third years!" Gou said. "Ai mentioned she was putting it together. Did she send you to pick up the pizza's by yourself?"

"She was here, but something happened, and we got split up." He started walking again. "Now I got to go take these pizza's back to school."

"Do you want some help?"

"I'm fine." He replied gruffly as he continued to walk, but he cursed when the pizza box fell again. He gave a groan of resignation his shoulders sagging.

"Gou, you still there?"

There was a brief pause before he heard a light giggle from his sister "Yep. I am."

"Can you help me?" he softly murmured.

He felt the top part of the pizza box tower relieved and was met with a bright smile from his sister. "Sure Oni-chan!"

Meanwhile at an ice cream shop

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Seijriou asked while he and Ai were at a table.

Ai perked up from her cup of ice cream and glanced as Seijriou took a few licks of his giant ice cream cone. "Sure Captain."

"What did you seen in Mastuoka anyway?" Ai almost choked on her spoonful of ice cream. She coughed a bit before she managed to swallow down the dairy.

"Ah…umm…" She saw Seijriou's expectant gaze as she swirled the spoon in her cup.

"I guess I liked how strong he is. How focused he was on his goal. I liked how easy it was to talk with him and…"I really can't explain it. We just…we just worked."

"Sorry rude. I'm sure it's still pretty fresh." He assured waving his hands. "Hey why don't we go to the arcade! You like video games, right?"

Ai glanced down at her watch squinting at the time. 'They might need a little more time…'

"Sure Captain"

"Alright!" Seijirou exclaimed finish his cone in two bites before grabbing Ai's wrist again. "Let's go!"

Back at the Samezuka Dorm room

"Alright, this looks pretty good." Rin commented surveying the room.

"Yeah. It looks fun." Gou responded her own maroon eyes taking in the scene. He grimaced at the of his sister checking out the muscles of his teammates while they were putting the final touches of the party together.

"You don't have to stick around." Rin said seeing the glances some of his teammates were giving his younger sister. He didn't want to have to deck somebody and bring down the mood of the party.

"Oh…" Gou gave him a disappointed stare. "I guess I can go…."

"He's coming!" Someone hollered interrupting the siblings.

"Get down! Everyone! Lights!" Takuya said. Immediately the dorm room was thrown into darkness as people murmured and shushed.

"You sure you're going to be okay?" Seijriou asked Ai while they were walking towards the dorm common area.

"Yeah. I think I just want to relax for a bit." She caught a quick glance at her phone giving a sigh of relief at the text saying they were ready to go.

"Thanks for cheering me up though." Ai responded giving Seijirou a warm smile.

"No problem Ai. You were too good for Rin anyway." Seijirou assured giving Ai a few hearty pats on the back before a look of realization came on his face. " Speaking of… remind me I have to kick his butt later." He answered cracking his knuckles.

"Ah…I…I'll try." She said fumbling for the common room dorm handle. When she opened it Seijirou peered in with a few confused blinks.. "Why's it so dark are they watching a movie?"

"Surprise!" the team hollered when the lights came on as they jumped out.

Seijirou gave a laugh at the rain of confetti and balloons that came down while he gazed at the decorations. "Amazing guys. Didn't suspect a thing." He looked over to Ai. "I take it you and Matsuoka…."

Ai gave a few shakes of her head. "No…we were just picking up something and you caught us."

"Good cover!" Seijirou said giving her another few pats. "And you invited Gou!" he said excitedly immediately heading to the Iwatobi manager.

Ai gave a smile as the festivities started everyone grabbing soda's and digging into the pizza.

"I swear I'm going to deck him." Rin muttered angrily while he handed Ai a soda. She followed his irritated gaze to Seijirou animatedly talking with Gou.

She took the soda giving him a broad grin. "That's funny. He wanted to do the same thing to you earlier too…"

"Yeah I get that." He answered taking a sip. "He's an idiot, but he watches out for his team."

"I can't believe he's not going to be here." Ai said. "It'll be so weird without his energy."

"Gonna be so much quieter too…" Rin added as he took another sip watching while the Captain grabbed some fellow third years to do some karaoke.

"I'm going to miss him." Ai murmured with a small giggle at the chaotic karaoke.

"I guess I will too…" he agreed.

"This is fun." Gou exclaimed as she came up to the two. "Ai we should do a duet together!"

"Oh okay…which one?" she asked. Rin watched as his sister and friend went off to search the karaoke CD's while he took another sip of his soda.

Applause broke out when Seijirou finished his set and again when Ai and Gou took to the makeshift stage with mics in hand.

"This year went by crazy huh Matsuoka." Seijirou said to Rin between bits of pizza.

"Yeah. Quite a whirlwind." Rin replied. "You excited about swimming at the collegiate level?"

"Heck yeah." Seijirou said. "It's going to be so great being back in Tokyo. Although I am going to miss being Captain, but I'll work my way back up again." He said giving a smirk.

"You're pretty confident." Rin replied with a small chuckle.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Seijriou said with a shrug before he glanced over at Rin. "It's going to be a fun year for you too Matsuoka."

"What do you mean by that?" Rin asked confused before applause broke out interrupting him.

"Hey Ai! Me and you are doing a duet now!" Seijirou exclaimed going back over to the karaoke machine.

The next few hours flew by in a barrage of karaoke, laughter and pizza.

Sometime later

"You don't have to help clean up Captain. It's your party." Ai said while she and Seijirou were moving a table.

"Nah I want to." He stated. "You put a lot of work in Ai. Thanks again."

"I'm glad to." Ai said while they folded it and loaded it into the closet.

"And you really mean It when you say it." He commented. "I'm really going to miss you Ai."

"I'll miss you too Captain." She replied as they began loading another table. "It seems this year went by so quick."

"Yeah right?." Seijirou agreed. "But over this year you grew a lot Ai and you helped this team out. Without you I don't think we would have gone as far as we did."

"Oh I don't think I would go that far." She replied with a shake of her head. She stopped when Seijirou placed his hands on her shoulders giving an affirming squeeze.

"You did Ai. You put in an a lot of hard work. Own it." He said his gold eyes giving her a reassuring stare.

"Um…I…I guess I did." She said with a smile, but the tone and blush on her cheeks showed she didn't believe it.
At this Seijirou gave a chuckle as he put his hand on her head, ruffling her hair. "You've come a long way Ai. You and Matsuoka.."

"He has. And he says he wants to make this team the best in the upcoming season." She replied eagerly.

"Really? That's good to hear." He commented. "I think it's going be a really interesting year for all of us."

"Yeah. I'm really excited." She murmured to herself as they walked back to the common room

'Who knows what this new year will bring?' she thought happily.

I don't know what this new year and new season will bring, but I can't wait to find out….