SCREAMS about the second season of Free! though. ANYWAYS. Um um, this fic is still set prior to the second season! So um yeah good 'ole Seijuro here is still Samezuka's captain! I'm getting there, though..hopefully... Sorry for taking so long to update!

Also, I kind of modeled this aquarium after the Churaumi Aquarium. Just a little bit.


The car ride hadn't been a long one, no, but Gou still fell asleep all the same. She was still tired, especially having woken up so early, and there was a certain auburn-haired someone to blame for that.

The Samezuka captain had tapped her on the shoulder ever so gently to wake the girl, a somewhat amused expression crossing his face. He thought that she looked cute while asleep, not that she wasn't always cute, because she most definitely was. It was just that there was a certain peace enveloping her face. Not quite emotionless, but her face seemed relaxed and gentle, almost open and vulnerable. None of that mild vexation that Gou would always give him, or even a small hint of a genuine smile if he was especially lucky that day.

It was peaceful.

Seijuro's lips quirked in a small grimace. He knew that he would have to wake her, although she looked so sweet and at peace, but it was for a good cause! He had brought her out for a date, and he could only hope that she would enjoy herself, and maybe, her heart would open to him little by little. From the moment he first saw her, he had become infatuated and hell bent on getting to know her, all to Rin's dismay.

He was sure that he would have Rin's little sister falling for him soon. At least, that was his hope. If not, perhaps he would be a little upset, but he would be content in simply being able to be a friend to her. His golden eyes would look on in admiration for her, and that would be it.

Sighing softly, he tapped on the girl's shoulder once more, and this time giving her a gentle shake. "Gou-kun," Seijuro said in a whisper. "Gouuuuu-kun! We're here!"

Gou began to stir, and she stretched in her seat, a quiet - and cute - yawn slipping past her lips. "...where's here?"

The Samezuka captain smiled knowingly as Gou's eyes opened, and as she turned her head to look at him. Had she forgotten? "Why don't we step out of the car and see?"

It wasn't so much an attempt to be a smart ass, and immediately after saying it, he realized that it could have been taken that way, but considering Gou's personality and intelligence, and her currently fatigued state, perhaps she wouldn't take it that way. He meant it in a way to keep their destination a surprise until the girl saw it with her own eyes, just to be funny. In their earlier texts, when he was able to ask the girl on a date, he had mentioned it. Perhaps her fatigue made her mind fuzzy.

Regardless, Seijuro was sure that she would be elated. He definitely was.

He had finally managed to successfully ask Gou out on a date, all without interference from Rin, or any other possibilities that would have prevented such a date.

He had truly lucked out, and the auburn-haired swimmer thanked the stars - everything was going in his favor...so far.

Golden eyes flickered to the left as he caught sight of movement. It had grown quiet, the silence breaking only with the click of an unfastened seatbelt, and yet another soft yawn. Grabbing his keys from the ignition, Seijuro climbed out of the car, determined to beat Gou from seeing the building. He stood slightly to the front of the car, though far enough from the utmost edge to avoid being in the way of passing cars in the parking lot, and beamed widely.

Iwatobi's manager finally came out of the car, and with the press of a button, the vehicle was locked, and keys were stuffed in deep pockets. The burgundy-haired girl yawned once more (and by now Seijuro was feeling really bad about having woken her up so early on a Saturday morning) and walked until she stood in front of Samezuka's captain.

"So?" Gou said, arching a brow in a tired, questioning manner.

Seijuro simply smirked and gestured an arm behind him. "Let's go walk and see, yeah?"

And he thought to himself how nice it would have been if they were able to hold hands, but unfortunately, they couldn't. They weren't dating - hell, they weren't even remotely close to the point of dating. He didn't even know how Gou felt about him, though he was sure that it was something positive. Platonic or romantic, he might have been content either way, so long as she was happy. If he wasn't her choice, he wouldn't argue with that. It wasn't his right, after all.

In the end, he turned around and stuffed his hands inside of his pockets, beginning to walk forward, creating a bit of distance between himself and Gou due to the long strides of his equally as long legs. Gou scurried in order to keep up, and her red eyes flickering from place to place, searching for pieces of things that would identify their current location. There would be a sign at the entrance of wherever they were, sure, but she was a little antsy.

After all, she was a little anxious to see where Seijuro was taking her.

"It better have been worth waking me up so early and rushing me to get ready!" were her thoughts, and her lips curved just slightly. Had she voiced them, she knew that she would have been answered with something along the lines of, "'Course it is. I'd take you to only the best places, Gou-kun."

Soon enough, she realized what the large building in front of her was, taking in clues from everywhere and anywhere. An aquarium. A brief flash of glee shimmered in the girl's eyes, and she was doing her best to conceal her excitement, silently following behind the auburn-haired boy. They soon arrived at the end of the parking lot and hit the concrete with their feet.

Seijuro turned around and beamed smugly at the girl, toned arms folding neatly across his chest, his expression almost amused and expectant.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Mikoshiba-kun?" Gou asked, arching an eyebrow. Seijuro almost pouted.

"Aw, man. I thought we'd finally gotten to a first-name basis, Gou-kun. We're friends, right?" He didn't want them to be just friends, though. He liked her too much.

Twirling a lock of her long hair, the girl laughed and nodded her head. "Yeah, whatever. But...! We're not that close yet!"

Gou tossed him a playful wink, and had it been anyone else, Seijuro might have rolled his eyes, but it was Gou, and she was cute. Everything she did was cute. A pink blush colored his tanned cheeks, and he quickly spun around, took an adventurer's stance, and pointed towards the direction of the aquarium's entrance. "Let's go!"

The red-head giggled and sighed, starting to walk again as the swimmer started to move. "You were being so secretive, and it was just the aquarium, although...I don't really have any complaints over your choice."

Seijuro lets out a laugh of his own and shook his head. "That's the thing, Gou-kun! I did tell you. In a text. I thought it'd be funny to go along with you. It hasn't even been that long! Can't believe you forgot about my texts, man."

A puzzled expression fell over the Matsuoka girl's face, and lips moved to speak, their form shaping the beginning of the word "what." Hands fumbled to grab her phone from her shoulder purse, and once it was in her hands, she hurriedly turned it on and unlocked it, breezing to find her texts. And surely enough, as she scrolled through the messages between her and the Samezuka swim team captain, there had been a mention of going to the aquarium.

She was so out of it, and it was entirely his fault. Had she been properly up on her feet after properly resting, perhaps she wouldn't have forgotten something as simple as going to the aquarium. Her mouth twisted cutely and she tossed Seijuro a glare, one that he could only laugh at.

"Come on, Gou-kun! Let's just go inside," Seijuro said, and he wiggled his eyebrows a moment later, and winked. "You can even hold my hand if you want to!"

Ever since becoming closer friends with her (a mission of its own right, because even befriending her had been nearly impossible, thanks to Rin), he had become more comfortable to openly flirt with her. And as for Gou, with his more obvious flirtation, she wasn't so oblivious to his feelings anymore, and she had, admittedly, blushed when she figured it out, wondering how she had been so dense that she couldn't see it before.

Someone with captain-class muscles liked her. That had been something that took her a while to process, but she managed to process it nonetheless. Of all people, a guy with captain-class muscles was fawning over her. With those muscles, Seijuro could have anyone in the world, but his eyes of gold saw only her.

It was hard not to get flustered with the thought of biceps, abs, and pectorals in mind. Plus, Gou had to admit that he was a little cute after getting a good, long, and proper look at his face, something that she hadn't really noticed before upon their first meeting and all of their meetings and run-ins after that. She supposed that it was because she never spent much personal time with him. There was always someone else around that distracted her, although she had to admit that she didn't really care to look at Seijuro beyond his muscles; really, she didn't care to look at men beyond their muscle definition.

His jawline was strong and defined, and his eyes were kind. His smile always reached his eyes - he was a cheerful sort of guy - and his smile always brightened the whole of his countenance. His auburn hair was cutely tousled in a way that seemed as if he had purposely styled it to look messy.

"I guess he's a pretty cute guy, huh?" Gou thought to herself, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

But a roll of her eyes was given and she simply shook her head at Seijuro, placing her hands upon her hips. "I won't be needing to hold your hand, Mikoshiba-kun!" she said, but she spared him a laugh and continued. "Come on, let's go have fun!"

Her boys would have liked to come to the aquarium too; there were penguins, dolphins, and sharks, amongst other things! Maybe they would have a whale shark!

Regardless, the redhead began walking towards the aquarium's entrance, looking back to make sure that the swimmer was in tow. Gou offered him a small smile and turned back around, and that little smile made Seijuro think he was going to melt right there in his shoes.

The smallest things that she did were enough to make his heart race, and damn, was he an idiot. From day one, Gou hadn't shown an ounce of interest in him, although he wondered if their initial meeting really counted for anything; she was looking for Rin, and with her mind elsewhere, was she really going to pay attention to him at all? Of course not. But all their encounters afterward, Seijuro saw that her eyes were always elsewhere, and when her wine colored eyes rested upon him, there was nothing more than friendly happiness.

And who knew? There might have been someone else around in her life, or maybe it was just that she simply didn't care, either for him or the prospect of dating anyone in general. Someone like her could easily have any guy wrapped around her little fingers (Seijuro was clearly proof of that) if that was what she wanted.

Seijuro shook his head and rid his mind of those thoughts. All that mattered right now was that he was out and about on a 'date' with the girl that he liked (although he wondered that if she considered this outing a date) and that they were finally able to spend some quality time together. It was no use dwelling on those thoughts; they could be pondered over at another time. Right now, there were here to enjoy themselves and have fun. Right now, all that mattered was Gou had agreed to come out with him in the first place.

Wearing a confident grin, the swim captain strode forward, his long legs easily catching up with the petite redhead. A hand gently brushed against one of her shoulders, and he tossed the girl a radiant smile as she looked up at him. They were quickly approaching the entrance, and once inside, the ticket counter was one of the first things they saw.

Before Gou could get a word out, Seijuro held up a hand and closed his eyes. "I invited you out, so I'll take care of the tickets. You can treat us to ice cream, or something, later, Gou-kun," he said, holding a fist over his heart.

The Matsuoka girl cracked the smallest small, and even relented to let out a laugh. "All right," she agreed, "that's fine. Thank you, Mikoshiba-kun! We can go to a parlor later...or the aquarium cafe! Whichever you prefer."

A look of surprise crossed over Seijuro's face, but he turned his head as to not reveal it to Gou. He really didn't think that she would agree to the ice cream! What a pleasant turn of events. His teeth were revealed in a wide grin as he looked back at the girl, a chuckle of his own shaking his chest. "Right on. Well, hold on! I'll be right back with the tickets. Don't wander too far, okay? I don't want anyone else to come and try to steal my Gou-kun!"

He left before Gou could say anything in response, leaving her to toss him an odd look as he hurried away. His Gou-kun? She shook her head and rolled her eyes, although an amused smile toyed across her lips. His crush on her was becoming even more obvious, and he was becoming even bolder. Seijuro was cute, and his muscles were amazing, and he wasn't a bad guy. In fact, he was a very lovely person.

Maybe she should give him a chance - get to know him more, spend more time with him, and maybe, just maybe, she could grow to like him as more than a friend, too. Gou had to admit that he had a certain charm to him, and he was undoubtedly a funny guy. It wouldn't be bad to date someone; it wouldn't be bad to simply like someone. She could almost picture it, the pair of them together. It was a nice thought. But, that all wasn't something she could decide on on her own. The real judge would be her heart.

She would try to open her heart to him.

Seijuro was quick in returning, handing over the ticket he had bought for her. With his grin still plastered to his face, he looked at the redhead and asked, "You ready to go?"

Gou nodded her head and the pair of them walked towards the exhibits, sticking their tickets in the ticket gate, passing as they opened, and grabbing the punched tickets. They stopped first at the 'petting' area, and Gou made a face as Seijuro immediately stuck his hand in to poke at one of the black, fuzzy, and bubble-covered sea cucumbers. He gave it a little squeeze and something began to secrete from it. The girl made an audible sound of disgust and lightly punched the auburn-haired boy's arm, to which he laughed and retracted his arm.

"That's so gross!" Gou exclaimed.

Seijuro just laughed. "I thought it was cool."

The girl made another face and moved along the line to touch a few starfish, eventually leaving with Seijuro to the little wash station. Hands were cleaned and the pair of them headed off to view the rest of the aquarium, admiring the beautiful fish in the tanks, and even making faces at the large grouper that swam by.

They saw eels, crabs and lobsters, and they saw jellyfish. They saw a variety of deadly sea animals, little amphibians, and sharks.

The sharks were in a large salt water tank, and most were resting at the bottom center. Many rays swam by, as well as a variety of different fish. It was wonderful to see how all these animals could coexist when all her life she had been told that the fish were only prey to the predator shark.

In the end, in the large tank, Gou saw only a single whale shark, and as it made its round, finally coming back to her vision, she snapped a picture, staring after it in awe. It was large and beautiful, swimming so slowly and gracefully.

"It's kind of cute, isn't it?" she quietly said, nudging the boy beside her.

Seijuro looked down at her and smiled, nodding in agreement. "Yeah."

At the end of the aquarium, they stopped at the gift shop, each parting ways to look at all of the merchandise. Gou ended up buying a little spotted eel pen for Chigusa, and a small shark plush for Rin. She bought key chains for each of the Iwatobi boys, and a spotted eel magnet for herself. When she was finished, she waited near the exit of the gift shop for her 'date,' rocking back and forth on her feet. It wasn't too long before Seijuro finally joined her, and when he did, he handed over the bag that was in his hand.

"Here," he said sheepishly as he held it out, scratching the nape of his neck with his other hand. "I...I got this for you."

A look of astonishment crossed Gou's face, and she hesitantly took the bag. She peeked inside and saw that it was a whale shark plush, and a blush immediately bloomed over her countenance. "S-Seijuro! You shouldn't have had.." Gou mumbled. "Thank you.. I..I didn't get anything for you..!"

The swimmer's face immediately brightened and he laughed it off. "Don't worry, Gou-kun. You're treating me to ice cream later, right? And besides, I wanted to get it for you, so no need to thank you. You were just commenting on how the whale shark was cute, so..I had to buy it."

Gou's already scarlet cheeks reddened even further, if that was possible, and she clutched the bags in hand even tighter.

"-..ano..let's just go ahead and go get some ice cream, okay? We-..we shouldn't stay out too late! And I have swim practice later to take care of, so..."

Another bout of laughter escaped the Samezuka swim captain's lips, and he walked over to go and placed a hand upon her shoulder. "All right. Let's go."

Their date came to a pleasant end. They'd gone to get ice cream, and Seijuro drove Gou back to her house, and they parted with waves and shouts of "See you soon!" All in all, it was a good day for them both. Gou thought it was nice to get out with someone like that for a change, and for Seijuro, well, he could hardly put into words how great his day was.

Not only was he successful in asking her out on a date, but Gou seemed to have been enjoying herself throughout the entire day. He had even made her blush! He thought that was the most adorable thing, and only when he arrived back to his house (because he only lived in his dorm on the weekdays, as did everyone else) did he realize just how lovestruck he really was.

Man, he was screwed. He was so screwed if she didn't reciprocate his feelings. He would be all right if she didn't, though, because simply being her friend was more than he could ask for. He was just content to be in her company. That was all.