Popsicles

Makoto closed his eyes as he felt the cool water wash over his limbs, shielding them from the blazing sun. He had never been one to be overly religious, but if there was a heaven, he imagined that it would resemble something like this, where he could just wade along in an endless pool, simultaneously enjoying the crisp chill of the water and the warmth of the sun's rays in an almost euphoric combination of the two distinct sensations. Silently, he lifted one arm up and brought it over his head in the initial step of the backstroke, softly kicking his legs in tandem with the movements of his upper body.

When he was younger, he had loved to swim the breaststroke, and he relished in torching Nagisa regularly with it, up until Rin had arrived at their swimming club. It was at that point that he had been exposed to the backstroke for the first time and fell in love with it. He was endlessly fascinated with its versatility that the other forms just seemed to lack. While it could be used competitively and could be as fast as it needed to be, it could also be slowed down to the point at which it was not any faster than a slow crawl. It was on these kinds of days that he preferred the slower setting on his swimming style, taking the time to just enjoy the weather and the take in the familiar scent of chlorine that tickled his nostrils with its distinctive odor.

Gou watched the captain of the Iwatobi swim team with captivated eyes that darted in every which way, taking in the perfectly sculpted man that was Tachibana Makoto. She wouldn't lie, she carefully studied the bodies of each of the members of the team with the upmost care and detail, but of course, it was purely for the purposes of creating better workouts. Okay, fine, it was probably seventy percent for the workouts and partly as an excuse to ogle the attractive men that populated the Iwatobi swim team. And Makoto definitely was not hard to look at. With his broad shoulders and tight abs, he was no slouch when compared to the others, and he easily possessed the best upper body strength of the four swimmers, if his large pecs told her anything.

"Hey, Kou-chan, aren't you hot right now?"

Gou's face flushed pink at the sound of Makoto's voice, and when she realized that she had been staring, she quickly swiveled her head so that she could hide her embarrassment. It was a moot gesture, she realized, as Makoto was way too kind to say anything about it, but still, being caught in the act was a bit unnerving for her. She gulped as she heard Makoto pull himself up from the water, and step in her direction, each time his dripping foot meeting the concrete with a wet smack.

"Ah!" Gou yelped as she noticed the fact that Makoto was now standing above her, his chiseled abs mere inches from her face. If she had been in an anime, she definitely would have been lying in a pool of blood at this point. Actually, regardless, she was probably going to end up in that state if he got any closer.

"You look a little red. Maybe you should hop in the pool to cool off?" Makoto suggested helpfully, his easygoing smile helping to calm Gou's nerves. He shook his head, his olive green hair flopping around and sending little droplets of water in all directions, although somehow, they each avoided hitting Gou in their trajectories.

"Oh, I'm alright." She quickly replied, pointing to her uniform, which consisted of a black blazer paired with a white shirt and a short brown skirt, "I didn't bring along a swimsuit to school."

Makoto did not seem fazed at all by her rejection of his proposal, and instead, simply placed his hand on his chin in a thinking position while grabbing a towel from the ground and rubbing himself off, "Well, let's go get some popsicles or something after I get changed."

"No, Makoto-senpai, I don't want to impose on you like that!" Gou insisted, shaking her head vigorously while she put her hands out in an x shape.

"It's no problem at all. Come on, it'll be a good chance to catch up after all these years." Makoto laughed, flashing a charming smile that made Gou instantly nod in spite of herself. He slung his towel over his shoulder as he stood up to get changed in the locker room, leaving a dazed Gou sitting by herself, wondering exactly what had just happened.

Makoto had turned out to be more persistent that she had originally anticipated, and she had been completely powerless to refuse his offer when he had seemed so eager to spend time with her. Darn Makoto and his perfect body! Although she realized that what he had said was true. Ever since her brother had moved to Australia to attend a swimming school, she had not really had a chance to speak to any one of his former friends. And ever since she had started as their club's manager, she had not really had any chance to speak personally with Makoto. Mainly, they had been concerned about training and other club affairs as the club president and manager, and usually their conversations were concerned primarily with the Iwatobi swim club. Actually, she could not remember the last time that they had just talked about something that did not concern either her brother or the Iwatobi team.

"Are you ready to go?" Makoto asked as he strolled out of the locker room, already changed back into his uniform, albeit without his blazer, which he was carrying in his hands. As a result of the heat, he had his tie hanging loosely around his neck and his shirt was partially unbuttoned, revealing some of the lightly tanned skin underneath, causing Gou to whimper a bit at the sight. Being his normal oblivious self to the effect that he was having on her, he gestured for her to follow him before turning on his heel to exit the pool.

Gou quickly picked up her bag, which she had left on the ground earlier while she had been sitting and watching Makoto. Dusting off the bottom, she slipped it onto her shoulder and began jogging to catch up to her senpai, who was already ahead of her, holding the door open so that she could walk through first like a proper gentleman would. It seemed that Makoto was the only one who would ever do that for her, given that Haru was more often too concerned with whatever it was that he was usually concerned with, while Nagisa was not concerned at all with matters of chivalry, and Rei was just more focused on whatever calculations he was making at any particular moment to take time and hold a door open for her. As usual, Makoto just stood there with his omnipresent smile, not expecting anything in return, a feature that Gou found to be incredibly cute.

Wait, did she just think that Makoto was cute? Because she didn't really mean that. That wasn't to say that she didn't think that he was attractive, because he was. He was definitely very attractive, with those bright green eyes that just seemed to envelop her in a curtain of comfort every time he looked in her direction, paired with the body of a god that made her weak at the knees. But of course, she wasn't really attracted to him in that way, and even if she was, it wasn't like he would ever return her affection. At least, not like he would for his friends, whom she knew he cared about more than anything else in the world. It was both endearing and slightly frustrating to know that there would likely be no way that any girl could ever replace the place in his heart that he held for Haru, Rei, and Nagisa exclusively.

"So, Kou-chan, how are you and Ama-chan getting along? I always see you two talking to each other now." Makoto asked as he closed the gate behind them, making sure not to lock it for Haru, who would inevitably arrive for a swim later, a motion that she immediately noticed. He was always doing little things like that, and every time he did, it reminded her of exactly how thoughtful he was with everything that he did.

"You know, I never really thought about that, but I guess you're right." Gou replied as they began walking off of school grounds and in the direction of the closest convenience store. Iwatobi was a small town, and Gou found that it was a blessing, most of the time. The small size made it easy to get from one place or another, and it seemed like everyone knew each other in town, a fact that she enjoyed each morning as she passed by the same neighbors she had lived next to for sixteen years. She loved the people, and she loved the town.

The two of them walked in silence from that point on, although Gou didn't really mind the lack of conversation. It was nice just enjoying the sunny weather with Makoto, who was happily humming a tune with a blithe smile on his face. She really did admire him and his disposition. It seemed that he always managed to see the positives in every situation, something that she wished that she could do herself. She briefly wondered for a moment what it would be like to spend a day in Makoto's shoes. There was no doubt that it would likely be a pleasant experience filled with friendship and swimming, which sounded like a pretty good combination to her.

They stopped in front of the local convenience store, one that Gou often visited to buy drinks and snacks for the team whenever she had time. It wasn't a chain store, something that was in common with most of the stores in Iwatobi. It turned out that a lot of the people who lived in Iwatobi had a habit of frequenting the same stores and tended to support smaller family stores, which made it much harder for large chains to encroach on Iwatobi's storefronts.

"Hello, Makoto-chan." The store owner, a elderly woman who had been tending to the counter for as long as Gou could remember, greeted as they walked in, causing a small bell to ring with the opening of the door.

"Hi there!" Makoto replied with a friendly wave that made the woman light up instantly. She found that Makoto often had that effect on people, and his work was never more evident than when he spoke to Haru. As far as she knew, he was the only person that was not met with silence when trying to converse with Haru, who was just as vulnerable to Makoto's infectious smile as everyone else in town.

"Oh, Gou-chan, you're here too? Don't tell me, you two are on a date." The owner guessed with a sly grin on her face that made Gou feel even more uncomfortable about her words than she already was. So much so that she didn't even bother to correct the woman on the matter of her name, which was definitely Kou, and not Gou.

"No, it's not like that!" She retorted desperately, not wanting Makoto to get the wrong impression of her. It wasn't that she wouldn't want to date Makoto, because she definitely would, if given the chance, but she imagined that such a comment would make him feel uncomfortable around her, which was the last thing she wanted from him.

"Of course it's not." The older woman said with a nod, although the wink that she fired at Gou implied that she did not believe her words in the slightest.

"Say, Kou-chan, which type of popsicle do you want?" Makoto asked, face pressed up against the freezer that held a dazzling assortment of ice cream and popsicles that made her feel thirsty just staring at them, knowing that only a few centimeters of glass were separating her and the frozen morsels. Instantly, her eyes were drawn to a familiar blue packaging that she knew to be of the Gari-Gari Kun brand. Her hands quickly followed her eyes, leading her to point directly at her desired treat.

"Oh, you like those too?" Makoto remarked as he pulled open the freezer door, blasting both of them with a refreshing icy breeze that made Gou's hairs stand on end for a split second before Makoto closed the door, subjecting them once more to the stifling heat of the rapidly approaching summer.

He handed her the two popsicles he had picked out before he trotted off to the counter and pulled out his wallet, intending to pay for both of them. However, Gou usually wasn't one to allow others to pay for her, and thus, she quickly made her way to his side, stopping him in the middle of handing the owner her money, "I have enough money with me to pay for my own."

Makoto merely smiled and shook his head before he handed the woman the money in his hands, "Don't worry about it. Think of it as thanks for keeping me company."

"Oh, okay." She relented, knowing that getting into an argument with Makoto over such a trivial issue was not going to end favorably for her. Knowing just how considerate Makoto was, there was absolutely no way that he would have accepted her paying him back in any way, as much as she would like to.

"Well, good luck, you two!" The owner shouted as they exited her store, leaving behind a ringing bell in their wake.

Simultaneously, Makoto and Gou both ripped open their wrappers and tossed them in the trash, leaving them with only their deep blue popsicles on flimsy wooden sticks in their hands. Gou gently licked her frozen treat, shivering at the cool sensation traversing the length of her tongue as she did so. Meanwhile, beside her, Makoto did the same, running his tongue up and down the icy bar, not noticing the way that Gou had gaped at him before returning to her own popsicle, which was already showing a slight hint of melting.

"Hey, Gou-chan!"

Gou stopped in her tracks and turned around to see her best friend, Hanamura Chigusa, running up behind them in a desperate effort to catch up. Her light brown hair was tied up in its usual loose bun, bobbing around as she approached them at a fast clip. She had always been a faster runner than Gou, and never failed to display that fact when they were together.

"It's Kou, for the last time, Chigusa-chan." Gou moaned in exasperation. It seemed that no matter how long she had known the girl, she would never get her name right without some correction on Gou's part. Was it really so hard to remember one little letter?

"All right, all right." Chigusa answered, disregarding Gou's protests with a flick of her wrist.

"Good afternoon, Tachibana-san." Makoto greeted warmly from Gou's side, instantly eliciting a response from Chigusa, whose face flashed pink. Gou almost rolled her eyes at her friend's reaction to the swimmer, which was anything but subtle.

"O-oh, good afternoon, Makoto-senpai." Chigusa stammered, trying to avoid his friendly gaze as best as she could, but failing miserably. Gou already knew that her friend had a crush on Makoto, and for obvious reasons. However, for some reason, she felt a small pang of annoyance at the fact that Makoto didn't seem to notice it at all, and yet, was happily going through pleasantries with the brown haired girl, who was now doing her best impression of a tomato.

"Hey, Chigusa-chan, I'll call you later tonight, all right?" Gou interrupted, grabbing a confused Makoto by the arm and dragging him along with her, leaving Chigusa behind them with no intention of looking back.

"Hey, Kou-chan, did I do something wrong?" Makoto asked after they had put a good distance between them and Chigusa. Gou stopped at his words, realizing what she had just done in the haste of the moment. Somehow, her feet had instinctively taken her down the road towards the port, and they were now standing at the waterfront, dropped popsicles in the middle of melting all over the wooden planks of the boardwalk.

She had no idea what propelled her to speak, but before she knew what she was doing, she allowed the words to spill from her mouth, "What exactly do you think of Chigusa?"

"What do you mean?" He questioned, trying to think back as to what she was trying to reference. She knew that it was unfair for her to put him on the spot like that, but it was a question she was dying to know the answer to.

"Don't lie. You think she's cute, don't you?" Gou asked with a defeated expression, mixed with a tinge of frustration. She wasn't stupid, and slowly, she was starting to realize the meaning behind her annoyance at Makoto's interactions with her friend.

For the first time that day, Makoto frowned a bit, not in anger, but in concern. By any standard, Gou was acting strange, and he definitely wanted to get to the bottom of it before it became a recurring thing. Thus, he decided that placing a hand on her head was the best option, to gauge whether or not she had been afflicted with a fever.

"Are you feeling okay?" He mumbled, while Gou's heart almost leapt up into her throat at his sudden contact. Why was it that Makoto always had a problem with personal space with her? She gulped deeply as she felt her breath quicken, just as Makoto realized how close his face was to her own. His face suddenly turned scarlet with a blush, and he immediately pulled his hand away, mumbling an apology.

"No, it's my fault. Sorry about the popsicles." Kou apologized, gesturing to the ruined snack that were now lying in puddle of sugar on the ground in between them.

"It's fine, I can always buy more." Makoto chuckled, trying to lighten the mood with some laughter, which he always found to be the best solution to an awkward situation such as the one he had just found himself in.

"No, let me pay you back." Gou insisted, reaching for her wallet.

Makoto sheepishly shook his head, "Don't. I can't accept any money from you."

Gou stopped rifling through her school bag in search of her wallet and shook her head in mix of admiration and disbelief. It seemed that even in such an uncomfortable situation as they were in, Makoto could not stop being a perfect gentleman, even for the briefest of moments. Suddenly, a plan flashed into her mind that made her cheeks redden as the thought formulated.

"Well then, let me pay you back some other way." Gou breathed shakily, cautiously stepping forward, so that she was a few measly inches apart from Makoto. If not for the fact that Makoto had quite the height advantage over her, she would have been face to face with him. Before he could quite comprehend what she was doing, Gou quickly grabbed him by his collar and pulled his head down so that their lips were smashed up against each other in a chaste kiss, with their cumulative inexperience showing in spades as Gou struggled to wrap her other arm around Makoto's broad shoulders and Makoto clumsily maneuvered his hand to Gou's lower back in an effort to bring her petite figure closer to him. The two of them closed their eyes as they began to settle into the sensation of the other, and slowly savored the tangy taste of popsicles on each other's lips.

After what had seemed like an eternity, the two of them finally pulled apart, each blushing furiously and panting slightly at the intensity of their kiss. Gou was the first to speak afterwards, breaking the silence.

"I think that should make us even." She managed, senses on overload as the realization that she had just kissed the incredibly chiseled swimmer began to finally sink in.

For his part, Makoto merely licked his lips, lapping up ever last bit of sticky melted popsiclely goodness that had come from Gou's mouth, before he flashed his famous smile and nodded in agreement with her assessment.

"Maybe I need to start buying you more popsicles."

Gah, I just love this pairing so much! And I am severely disappointed in the lack of anything more than one-shots for this pairing.

So, if anyone wants to see a multichaptered story for this pairing, please leave a review or PM, because I have some ideas that I would definitely like to put in practice, but I won't do it if no one is interested, so please, let me know.

Thanks for reading!