It was a Saturday morning, a quiet one at that, and she would prefer to keep it like it was. An eye peeked out from behind a closed lid, glancing towards her window. Bright light pooled in through the glass, and she could hear the sound of birds chirping outside, always to celebrate the rise of the sun, the start of a new day. Sparing a look at her clock, Gou allowed a soft sigh to slip, and she turned to face the wall, tightly clutching the blankets and closing her eyes.
Just a quarter 'til eight.
It was a Saturday.
She wanted to sleep in when she had the chance. There was no homework to do, there were no projects to attend to, and there was no swim practice scheduled this early. Later in the day, yes, but not quite so soon. For that she was grateful that she had scheduled it for later; Gou hadn't expected this feeling of fatigue that was washing over her. She was sure the boys were at least a little relieved, too. After all, even they deserved a bit of rest every now and then, especially after all of their continuous hard work.
Before long, the sudden sound of vibrations pierced through the morning air as her phone buzzed loudly against her nightstand. Perhaps it should have been set to silent instead. Grumbling quietly, she scooted closer to the edge of her bed and reached an arm out to grab her phone. Fingers fumbled around the surface of the table, tightly gripping the device once her slender digits had found them. The Matsuoka girl released a quiet sigh, finally sitting up, the hair at the top of her head a matted, tangled mess. She spared a glance down at her phone and went to check her messages, allowing a diminutive smile to creep upon her face as she saw who it was from.
That idiot.
"Seijuro, huh?" she said through a yawn. "Wonder what he..."
Her voice had trailed off as she started to read the message. Her initial response was to roll her eyes and give out a soft chime of laughter before furiously typing her reply away.
[Prince Charming]
Hey, good morning Gou-kun! :D
❀ You do realize what time it is right now, right? -_-
What, no "good morning" back? Jeez Gou-kun, looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
❀ Actually, you just woke me up. Kind of. I was going back to sleep. :
Waking up early is great though, let's be honest.
You can do so much in a day!
❀ True, but I was hoping to sleep in for a while. Just maybe an hour or so :(
Aw I'm sorry Gou. But hey, I remembered what I wanted to ask you!
❀ huh?
[message sent at 07:57:24]
She was about to continue typing, but she waited instead, pressing her lips together. What could he possibly want so early in the day? Not that she had too much of a problem, because she did like him well enough. Seijuro was a good friend. Just as she had shaken her head and returned her fingers to the screen, the Samezuka captain her sent his next message.
[Prince Charming]
Are you free? What do you say to hanging out today? Since Rin thwarted the old plans...
[message sent at 07:58:18]
To that, all the girl could do was slip a small grin. The last time Seijuro had tried to make plans with her, Rin had somehow found out and was terribly adamant about it. The captain had subsequently relented and gave up, presumably out of fear. After all, Rin was a little terrifying when angry, or faced with something he didn't really want happening. He was certainly what one would call a protective older brother, and while it was nice at some times, sometimes it did get a little out of hand. He was only looking out for her, though, and Gou knew that he meant well.
With the smile still lingering across her lips, her eyes fell back down to her phone's screen and she began to type out her reply.
[Prince Charming]
❀ Yeah, I am! I mean I've got swim practice scheduled later, but it's later this afternoon. I can hang 'til then!
[message sent at 08:02:23]
Great! I'll pick you up then. How do you feel about going to the aquarium and then going to the outlet?
There are some nice eateries there by and at the outlet.
[message sent at 08:04:06]
❀ That sounds great, actually! Come get me in like an hour?
Right on. I'll be there. An hour sharp, Gou-kun!
She didn't respond to the text, instead moving out of her bed in sluggish movements. Her small feet slid into her slippers with ease. Turning on her heels, the burgundy-haired girl fixed her bed, smoothing out the small crinkles in the fabrics. An arm reached up to her hair to pull the the hair tie loose, long locks of wine colored hair pooling over her shoulders and cascading down her back. Sparing a glance mirrored bureau to her left, she saw that the top of her head was a frizzy mess. Her fault for sleeping with her hair tied, but last night, she was far too tired to even undo her hair. Walking closer to the piece of furniture, Gou reached for her hair brush, starting from the ends of her hair and moving upward towards the top, brushing with gentle and slow strokes until her hair was silky and smooth.
Gou was taking her time to get ready because in all honesty, it wouldn't take her long, and she might as well kill the time that she would have to spare.
For clothes, she wore something simple. The typical shade of denim skinny blue jeans topped with a burgundy shirt that came close to rivaling the intensity of the color of her hair. From out of her closet, she pulled out a pair of Vans whose color matched both her hair and shirt. Wrapped around her neck was a crème colored scarf, and around her left wrist was a black bracelet with silver beads and a feather charm. Before long, the girl's hair was tied in its usual ponytail, and her eyelashes were darkened and lengthened with just a touch of mascara.
She ate, she brushed her teeth, she grabbed her phone and her wallet, and she just sat around downstairs.
The house was silent. It was only her and her mom living there, after all, and her mom was out at work. Gou sat in the kitchen area, and every once in a while her eyes would wander towards the stove clock, watching as the minutes slowly ticked by. In the end, she wasn't able to waste enough time.
A soft yawn slipped past the girl's lip, still slightly tired and silently wishing for a few more minutes of rest - minutes that she would have gotten, no thanks to a certain auburn-haired swim captain. But, she found that she didn't mind too much. She knew that his intentions were good and from the heart, although next time, should there even be a next time, he should take the time into consideration. Maybe it was an athlete's thing to be awake so early and not consider that some others would like to spend their Saturday mornings still tucked in bed beneath all the covers and blankets. She didn't know, and quite frankly, it wasn't all that important.
Slender fingers tapped against the kitchen counter in a rhythmic beat. She hoped that hanging out with Seijuro today would be worth it. If they were going to the aquarium, she couldn't complain. Marine animals were gorgeous, and she definitely wouldn't mind looking at them for a while and snapping a few photographs where she could.
One minute ticked by, then another, and another, and another, and another. Grabbing her phone and pulling up the text messages, she looked at the time of Seijuro's last text, and looked at the current time. It was now four minutes past nine, and-
There was the ringing of the door bell. Exactly on time. Getting up, she deliberately strolled slowly to the front door, waiting a moment before unlocking it, then another moment more before her hand reached the doorknob. Yet another moment passed before she finally turned the knob and pulled the door open. Once she did, she looked up at the boy before her, immediately trying to stifle a giggle when seeing his face. It looked pained.
"Why would you make me wait like that, Gou-kun?" he whined, his lips pushing into a pout. "I came here right on time. Early, actually. Kind of stood here a few minutes before ringing the door bell."
The Matsuoka placed her hands firmly on her hips and raised an eyebrow at the swimmer. "Hey-! Then you're the one who made me wait! I was actually sitting around for a while, waiting for you." Shaking her head, she walked out of the house and closed the door behind her, locking it quickly. She tossed the keys into her small shoulder bag and looked at the incredibly tall boy once more. "C'mon, let's go!"
Seijuro couldn't help but to smile. Just seeing her made him smile. He just got really excited and enthusiastic about the simple prospect of seeing her, and now that he actually had the chance to spend some time with her, he was one happy and lucky guy.
Gou had started walking towards her friend's car, stopping only momentarily when she realized she didn't hear any footsteps following after her. When she looked back, she saw Seijuro still standing in the same spot, but now a wide, silly grin had plastered itself to his face, the mirth just twinkling in his golden eyes.
"What are you just standing there for, Seijuro-kun? And jeez, what's with that face? You're grinning like an idiotic dork, y'know," she called out.
Hearing her voice made him snap out of his small trance, and his previous expression was quick to disappear. He shook his head to get his senses back, completely, and rushed ahead to beat Gou to the car. He opened the door for her and gestured for her to take a seat inside. To that, the girl offered a little smile, the corners of her lips tugging upward into a gentle curve. She thanked him, took a step inside, and sat down. He was quick to climb into the car as well, buckling up as soon as he was inside.
"Thanks for agreeing to come along," he said, breathing out heavily as he began to drive off. Sparing a quick glance to the side, he studied her face, waiting for even the slightest reaction. "I was kind of expecting you to reject me."
The girl laughed a breathy laugh and just shook her head. "Now, why would I do that? I mean, we made plans to hang out before, right? And then Rin went and messed them all up, so this is to make up for it," she replied, her tone chipper and light. "But, you're welcome. I'm sure it'll be tons of fun."
He, too, allowed a laugh of his own to break free. "Yeah, I promise it'll be fun. You can punch me as hard as you can if it isn't."
"Oh, really?" Gou answered, a faint trace of interest lacing her voice. Seijuro almost looked hurt, and she chuckled again. "Hey, hey! I'm kidding. I don't doubt you."
They spent the rest of the ride to the aquarium chatting about little things, making lively conversation. For the most part, Seijuro kept his eyes on the road, and Gou would look at him every now and then, her eyes holding a studious gaze. They had known each other for a few weeks now, and she had hardly noticed how fun of a guy he was. Granted, they went to different schools, they were in different years, had different agendas, and they didn't really do anything to hang out, and that was mostly due to Rin being the typical over-protective brother.
She would have to spend some more time with him. Already, she could tell that it was going to be a fun day. He just kind of had that incredibly likable personality that was easy to befriend and talk to. She had felt at east with him from the first day that they had met, despite them not exchanging many words, her only having been concerned with finding her brother at the time.
With a faint smile still ever-present on her visage, she leaned back in the car's seat and turned her head to look out the window.
She was honestly looking forward to the day, and now she didn't mind that she had woken up so early this morning. Gou had a gut feeling that it was all going to be more than worth it.
Omg I finally updated, it's a miracle!
i'm so sorry if it's cruddy oh god. I've been really lacking inspiration and motivation and time to write, and I just really wanted to get something out for not only my personal gain, but because I know there are a few people who were interested in this story and would have liked the next chapter, so here it is! I'm still iffy on their characterization because it HAS been a while, and I'm probably going to go back and watch the anime when I have the free time so I can properly get a feel of the two of them. I don't know man, I just really like this pairing so I want to give it my all and give these two the just that they deserve.
They're just adorable tbh.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I'm hoping that getting the next chapter out won't take quite as long as this one did. I've got a pretty good idea of what I'm going to write next, so wait for it!
If you feel like leaving a comment, please do! I would really appreciate it!
