A/N: Sorry about the long wait for chapters 6 and 7. My job has been stressing me out, giving me no motivation to write chapter 8.
All of us cheered for Ren and Ran in the kickboard race. They were both so close to winning! When it was time for the muscle contest, Kou and Yukari went off. I wasn't surprised when Kou said that she was the judge or that Yukari wanted to watch. I took this as an opportunity to talk to Rin.
Rin was standing with Mikoshiba and Nitori. Sosuke must have gone off to get something to drink.
"Hey, guys," I greeted as I walked over.
"Hey, Riku," Rin said when he heard me. You didn't get a chance to be introduced to Momotaro Mikoshiba. He's Seijuro's little brother."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Riku Matsumura, Rin's girlfriend." I introduced myself.
"Yeah, nice to meet you," Mikoshiba said. It looked like he wasn't really paying attention to me. I followed his gaze to see that he was looking at Kou.
I sighed, shaking my head. He was just like his brother.
"So, I wanted to know more about what you wrote in those letters to Sosuke," I said to Rin.
Rin looked away. "Why are you so interested in that? It's in the past."
"Because I want to know. We're already dating, so it's no big deal."
"I just told him all about you and what you said in your letters to me." He scratched the back of his head.
"So you told him how talented I was at drawing and swimming?" I asked.
"And about your pinky promise," Sosuke interjected.
Rin gave his best friend a glare.
"I used to read your letters out loud to my step-mom and talk about you to her. Kaori was always too busy to listen, and, well, you know Koji," I smiled.
Rin smiled as his eyes met mine, and he draped his arm around my shoulder.
"So, you swim butterfly like Rin, right?" Sosuke asked.
"Yeah. I'm determined to beat him in a race. What do you swim?" I asked.
"Butterfly and free," he answered.
"That's awesome! We already have one thing in common, besides being friends with Rin," I laughed. When I looked over my shoulder, Yukari was just standing there until she realized I was looking at her.
She waved me over.
I gave her a quick nod, and turned back to the boys. "I have to go, good luck!" I started to leave, but Rin held me back.
"Can I have a good luck kiss from our cheerleader?" he asked.
"Of course." I gave him a quick peck before going back over to my friend.
Yukari told me all about what happened at the muscle contest and the guys she favored the most. It seemed like she was her usual self, always looking at the male swimmers. We both went to get something to snack on before the main event.
.oOo.
Yukari and I both went to stand on the side, since the main event would be happening soon. Then Iwatobi and Samezuka went to do their warm up stretches. Kou came to stand with us when the boys got in place. Mikoshiba was waving at Kou the entire time Ms. Amakata was announcing the event.
"So who's that one?" Yukari pointed to Mikoshiba.
"Remember the old team captain? That's his little brother," I told her. When I looked at Rin, I started to snicker when I saw the look on his face.
Yukari looked at me with a smirk. " Having a thing for Kou must run in the family."
"I got excited for Kou because she wouldn't have to deal with the older Mikoshiba, but now she has to deal with his younger brother," I laughed.
"I wonder who would be able to win her heart," Yukari thought aloud.
Just as Yukari finished her thought, the boys got in place for the event. Yukari and I cheered for the teams through the intense race. This time Iwatobi was the victor.
I went over to congratulate the Iwatobi boys before going over to the Samezuka team. "Great job, guys!" I smiled.
"Thanks, Riku. Do you want to come out to eat with us and get to know the guys?" Rin asked.
"Yeah! That would be so much fun!" I looked over behind me to wave Yukari over. "This is my best friend, Yukari Kinoshita."
"Nice to meet you. Sosuke Yamazaki," he smiled.
Yukari gave him a small wave—that was out of character for her.
"I'm Momotaro Mikoshiba," Momo said.
"We'll go get changed. See you guys out front," Rin smiled.
I said goodbye to the rest of the boys before I went to wait for Rin and the rest of the guys out front.
Yukari was being a little fidgety as we were waiting. I called my mom to tell her what was going on. She told me to have fun and be safe. I was looking at nearby restaurants to try to figure out what I wanted to eat just as the boys came out.
.oOo.
As soon as we sat down at the restaurant, Mikoshiba started asking me about Kou. I could tell Rin wasn't too happy about him asking about his sister. At least the older Mikoshiba didn't seem as obsessed with Kou as the younger one did. Yukari, on the other hand, was a lot quieter than she usually was. I had a feeling that it had to do with Sosuke since he was the only new factor. Yukari had no problem with interacting with the older Mikoshiba so why would she have a problem with the younger one?
"Are you really close with Gou?" Mikoshiba asked.
"Yeah." I shrugged. "I mean, I've known Rin since we were kids. Plus she's the manager for Iwatobi."
"What kind of things does she like?" Mikoshiba asked.
I felt Rin shift in his seat and his leg moved. By gauging the reaction I think he kicked Sosuke, maybe to get off the subject of Kou.
"How did you and Kinoshita meet?" Sosuke said, changing the subject.
"Yukari texted me thinking that I was our ex-boyfriend's brother. Once we found out he was cheating on us with each other we broke up with him. She's the best thing I got out of that relationship." I watched as Sosuke looked surprised and looked at Rin.
"I was surprised when I found out too," Rin laughed.
"And you were jealous," I hummed.
"No I wasn't," Rin grumbled.
Sosuke let out a laugh.
"I already told you that you shouldn't be jealous of someone who didn't win me a stuffed animal." I looked up at Rin.
"That was the night of the Hachimon festival. Kinoshita made us stop at almost every stall," Nitori sighed.
Yukari rolled her eyes. "Only to give the two of them a few moments alone. I doubt they wanted an audience for their talk."
"I mean it was more than enough time for us to talk. I got to say what I wanted," I smiled.
Then the waiter came over to take our order and went to go get the food. Sosuke, Rin, and I were all telling Mikoshiba, Nitori, and Yukari some stories from our childhood. Funny enough, Sosuke and I had some semi-similar stories where Rin was involved.
.oOo.
When the meal was finished, we congregated outside of the restaurant to say our goodbyes. I could tell Yukari was more comfortable now.
"It was nice meeting you, Kinoshita." Sosuke gave her a smile.
"No need for formalities. You can call me Yukari," she beamed.
Sosuke smiled back, "Then you can call me Sosuke."
"Text me when you two get back, okay?" Rin looked down at me.
"You too," I said, placing a kiss on his lips.
"Tell Gou I say hi!" Mikoshiba smiled.
As I pulled away, I noticed an annoyed look on Rin's face.
"It was nice meeting you guys." I told Sosuke and Mikoshiba. Then I turned to Nitori and said, "It was nice seeing you again."
Nitori nodded and gave me a small smile.
"So that means you'll say hi?" Mikoshiba asked.
"Sosuke," Rin said abruptly.
"Make sure you tell Gou I say hi too," Sosuke smiled.
"I will," I giggled. "It was nice to finally meet you! Bye." I waved as I linked my arm with Yukari's.
As Yukari and I started walking towards my house; she started humming. I didn't want to ask her about how she was acting earlier yet. I could ask her when we got back.
.oOo.
When we got back the both of us went to go talk to my mom about today and ask if Yukari could spend the night again. Of course my mom said yes, and my dad could care less. He was too busy finishing up a deal with a new client. As we made our way to my room, I texted Rin to tell him that I made it home safely.
Yukari plopped down on my bed as soon as we got inside.
I sat down beside her on the bed. "So, why were you acting so differently earlier?"
"It was because of Sosuke. He was a bit intimidating, and I thought he was really cute," Yukari grinned.
I raised my eyebrows. I wasn't expecting Yukari to be shy around someone she thought was cute.
"You usually don't like people younger than you," I said.
"I mean, he looks a little older than you guys." Yukari sat up to look at me. "Plus he's Rin's best friend, so that means we could go on double dates."
"You two would look cute together," I hummed.
Yukari's face lit up. "So you'll set us up?"
"I'll do my best. I still have to get to know Sosuke too, but maybe we can do something as a group."
Just as I finished speaking, Yukari lunged forward to give me a hug. "You're the absolute best!"
I laughed at her excitement.
I mean, it would be nice if Sosuke and Yukari went out since they were best friends with Rin and I. It would mean double dates, and Yukari would probably do a few gym dates with us. It was going to take some time to get to know Sosuke and push him and Yukari together though. Rin could probably help too, but I wasn't sure it was the right time to tell him.
Either way, I had hoped for the best outcome for Yukari because Sosuke looked like he could keep up with her.
.oOo.
When the weekend was over, the Iwatobi swim club had to decide on who would participate in the school festival. Kou had given Rin a flyer, and I sent him a text telling him that I understood why he couldn't come today. The boys would be participating in the interclub relay because I didn't want to run in my swimsuit in front of the entire school.
Iwaotbi had won the relay, but once again, no one had shown up.
Kou looked stressed. "No one's here!" she cried.
Nagisa hung his head. "I thought that somebody would have shown up for sure."
"Well, no matter how good we are at running, at the end of the day, we're still a swim club," Rei said.
"We did everything we could out there, you guys. Now we just wait patiently." Makoto looked at them.
"Don't tell me you guys forgot about what happens today." I crossed my arms. Everyone but Makoto gasped; at least he didn't forget. I had been looking forward to this day for a long time!
"They open the pool!" Makoto smiled.
Everyone's mood lightened as we got ready to swim.
Makoto stood in front of us to talk to us about the upcoming District Tournament. "Be careful warming up guys. That water is ice cold. We have a few days before we have to turn in our forms for Districts. In addition to individual races, we'll probably wanna sign up for something else." Makoto brought his finger to his chin while he stopped Haru from getting into the pool. "Hmm, I wonder what it could be?"
"The medley relay!" Rei, Nagisa, Kou, and I all exclaimed.
"Right, that's it. What do you say, Haru?" Makoto turned to his friend.
"Well I-uh… I only swim freestyle and relay." Haru looked at us with that stoic look of his.
"Then it's decided. We'll enter the relay. Figure out your own individual races before the deadline. And you know... Since this is my last year, I'm thinking of entering the freestyle category too," Makoto said.
I looked over to Haru, who was staring at Makoto, surprised at his decision.
"In that case, maybe I'll try swimming butterfly!" Nagisa had a determined look on his face.
"But that's your worst stroke," I said, looking over at Nagisa.
"Yeah but it gives me somethin' to work on!" He turned to Rei. "Hey, Rei, since we're branching out, you oughta try breast stroke."
"I don't wanna look stupid. The butterfly is still the only stroke I can swim." Rei pushed up his glasses with a huff.
"Aww, come on, buddy, don't beat yourself up like that." Nagisa nudged Rei with his head. "Besides, you're a completely different person now, remember? If you put your mind to it, you can swim anything you want!"
"Yeah? You think so?" Rei looked to Nagisa for reassurance.
"Why not? You're learning something brand new every day!" Kou smiled.
I shrugged. "You'll never know until you try."
"Well, I suppose with hard work, anything is possible, isn't it? Even doing the backstroke," Rei said with a small smile.
"If you set your mind to it, anything is possible!" Makoto reiterated.
"In that case, I'm in! I'll present my backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle to you all, and it will be breathtaking!" Rei dramatically pushed up his glasses again.
I remembered how difficult it was for Rei to try to swim those strokes when he first started. Since he's been swimming for a while, I had hoped that he would be able to learn them.
After some warming up, we practiced our strokes before Rei wanted us to watch him do the backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Just like when he first started, he couldn't keep himself afloat. I felt bad that he felt like he sucked. He had great form but I wasn't sure what he needed to do to not sink. I guess we'll have to keep working at it.
