Chapter 2

"Results of the last mock exam are going to be out today," Kaori heard someone say, as she entered the large class in which her cram school took place. She bit her lip, worried. Her last mock exam hadn't gone all that well, what if she didn't manage a good score? She frowned and sat alone in the front row, pulling out her notebook.

"Hi, Kaori-chan," the girl sitting beside her greeted. "Ready for today's test?"

"I couldn't complete the political science syllabus," Kaori admitted with a sigh. She hadn't managed to study over the weekend. She kept getting distracted, her mind filled with thoughts of Sousuke, and what he was like now. She hadn't seen him in two whole years. As a result, she was completely underprepared for her test. "I hope most of the questions are analytical and not theoretical."

The girl looked surprised. "You not completing the syllabus, Kaori-chan? That's not like you."

Kaori flushed red as their sensei entered the classroom and everyone went silent, settling down quickly. He began handing out papers and Kaori took a deep, calming breath, muttering her usual prayer before she uncapped her pen and rapidly began writing.

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"Why does she come here when she doesn't intend to swim?" an 8-year old Sousuke asked curiously. He was looking up at the small, pink-haired girl that was sitting on the balcony at their swim club, her face buried in a book. Her legs were too short to even reach the ground from the chair she was sitting in.

Kisumi turned around. "What, Kaori? Her parents don't give her much of a choice, really. They think that she's too shy and she doesn't talk to anyone, so they make her go everywhere with me. For some reason, they think she'll open up if she hangs around me and my friends."

"It's true, Kisumi-chan. Kaori-chan doesn't talk at all, and you talk too much," Rin pointed out.

Kisumi shrugged. "I don't mind her hanging around. Does it bother you guys?"

"Not exactly. I mean, it's not like she gets in the way or anything, she's usually just sitting and reading," Sousuke replied. "Sometimes I forget she's even there. Like that day when we were playing near the sakura tree and we left her there because her hair was the same color as the sakura petals and we didn't even notice her, remember?"

Kisumi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Okaasan got really mad at me that day."

Rin laughed, before striding over to the side of the pool and popping the back of his swim cap. "Come on, Sousuke-kun, I'll race you! Loser has to carry everyone's bags on the way home!"

Sousuke grinned, running over to him. "You're on!"

Sousuke lost, and he took on his punishment with a brave face. He put Kisumi's bag on one shoulder, and Rin's bag on the other. When he held his hand out to Kaori though, she stared at him fearfully with those big eyes, clutching her bag to her chest. She seemed to think he would snatch it away from her.

"It's okay, Kaori," Kisumi told her patiently. "It's his punishment for losing, he has to carry everyone's bags home. You'll get it back in a bit."

Kaori handed over her bag reluctantly, blushing slightly when Sousuke gave her a comforting smile. They all headed home; Rin's house arriving first, and then Kisumi's. Normally, Sousuke took a turn before Kisumi's house for his own, but Rin had insisted that as part of the punishment, Sousuke had to carry the bag all the way till the person's home.

"Y-you don't have to walk all the way with me," Kaori mumbled so quietly that Sousuke barely hear her. Sousuke looked at her in surprise. He'd gotten so used to the girl's silent presence that for a moment, he'd almost forgotten she could speak. She was blushing furiously, even the small speech seeming like an effort for her. "I can go myself."

"That's okay," Sousuke replied with a sigh. "I don't want to bail halfway through the punishment. I'll make Rin lose tomorrow and then he'll have to carry your bag, you just wait and see."

"I think you could beat him at butterfly," Kaori said quietly. Her eyes widened a little after she said it, almost as if she couldn't believe that she'd said it out loud. She stared at her feet silently as they continued walking.

"Yeah, you're right!" Sousuke realized, looking thoughtful. "It's not fair that we always race freestyle, that's his favorite stroke. Next time, I'll try challenging him to a butterfly race. Arigato, Kaori-chan!"

Kaori flushed, her cheeks turning a deep pink. Sousuke smiled, resisting the urge to reach out to touch her blushing face. He was filled with a sudden curiosity to know what her skin felt like, but he kept his hands at his sides. "Ne, Kaori-chan, why do you rarely talk?"

Kaori looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "I… I don't know what to say," she mumbled.

Sousuke laughed. "Well, that's true. With me, Rin and Kisumi around all the time, I guess we don't give you much of a chance to speak, huh? Especially Kisumi-kun. He never stops talking. You're both really different." Kaori didn't respond and they walked a little further, before Sousuke asked quietly. "You were in Iwatobi before, right? Why didn't you talk to anyone there?"

"I didn't like anyone there," Kaori mumbled.

"Hmm. I guess I can understand that. I made friends with only Rin in school because I don't like anybody except for him. But you like us, right, Kaori-chan?"

Kaori nodded quickly, her pink hair covering her face from his view. They stopped outside her house and Kaori held her hand out for her bag. "Thanks for carrying it," she said quietly.

"You're welcome," Sousuke replied, swinging it off his shoulder. The top zip was hanging open and a piece of paper fluttered out. It landed on the ground, and Sousuke hurried to grab it before the wind could blow it away. "Oops- gomen. Hey, what's this? Tokyo University?"

Kaori took it from him quickly, stuffing it in her bag. But Sousuke was curious. Why was she carrying around a brochure for the University of Tokyo? "Why do you have that, Kaori-chan?"

Kaori held her bag tightly, shifting from one foot to the other uncomfortably. "I was at the library last week and it fell out of a high school student's bag," she mumbled. "I was going to return it, but I couldn't work up the courage to go and give it to him. I wasn't stealing, I swear! It seemed really interesting and I wanted to read it, which was all!"

Sousuke stared, surprised that this quiet girl was capable of uttering more than one sentence at a time. It wasn't until she'd stopped speaking and he'd gaped at her for a few seconds, that he could respond. "Well, it's just a brochure, it's hardly stealing," Sousuke pointed out comfortingly. "But why would you want that? It's boring."

Kaori blushed. "I… I want to go there when I'm older. I want to study law at the University of Tokyo," she muttered. "I know it's stupid and you might laugh because I'm so shy that I can barely speak to strangers, but I'm going do it one day."

Sousuke stared at her. It struck him, almost like a bolt of lightning, that this shy, quiet, bookish little girl was more than just someone who followed Kisumi around. He shared something with her. They both had a dream. A dream that they were willing to go to any lengths to achieve, no matter how impossible it seemed at the moment.

"Please don't tell anyone," Kaori said quickly, looking up at him. "I haven't told anyone yet."

"I won't," Sousuke promised. He watched as Kaori turned and opened the gate to her house, her pink hair swinging behind her. Just before she disappeared inside, however, he called out to her.

"Kaori-chan?" She turned to face him in surprise and Sousuke took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for saying it was boring. If it's your dream and it's something you want to do, then that's not boring at all. It's actually… really cool."

Kaori flushed a bright red, before slipping inside her house. Sousuke laughed and turned around, heading back home.

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Kaori handed in her test paper at the front desk, and slowly exited her classroom. She'd managed to finish the test, but her mind travelled back to Sousuke as soon as she was finished. He'd said see you on Monday, but Monday was almost over. She glanced down at her phone, realizing it was seven pm. Should she call him? But she didn't have his number, and that ancient landline of hers didn't have caller ID…

Kaori followed her classmates out of the cram school building, head bent as she contemplated what to do. She wanted to see Sousuke badly, but would it be weird if she sought him out? She didn't want to seem desperate. She was walking so quickly that she didn't even realize someone was in front of her until her head bumped into a solid chest.

"Gomen'nasai," she said quickly, looking up. The man in front of her was tall, and smiled down at her with kind, blue-green eyes. Kaori let out an audible gasp. "Sousuke…"

Sousuke chuckled, as he gently grabbed Kaori's shoulder and pulled her out of the crowd of students that were rushing to get home. He kept his hand there; the warmth burned through Kaori's uniform shirt and she could feel it in her skin. "Wow, Kaori-chan. Are those huge glasses helping your vision or obstructing it?" he asked with a smile.

Kaori flushed. It had been a long time since she had blushed, but she couldn't help herself when Sousuke was looking at her that way. "Baka. Shut up," she muttered. She looked up at him, unable to hold back her smile. "You recognized me."

Sousuke raised an eyebrow. "Well, look at you. Hair the color of sakura petals and those thick-rimmed glasses? I would have spotted you from a mile away. You've grown taller, though," he added, gently removing the hand on her shoulder to place it on her head. Her hair was soft under his fingers.

"That doesn't mean much when you're the size of a giant," Kaori mumbled, still looking at the ground. Her voice broke slightly, and Sousuke was surprised when he heard a small sniff. He instantly shifted his hand to her chin, tilting her head up so he could see the tears brimming in her purple eyes. He couldn't resist a laugh. "You're such a girl. Are you really crying?"

"Baka, shut up," she mumbled swatting his arm as she sniffed again and wiped her tears away with the back of her sleeve. She kept her head facing down and Sousuke laughed at her, before stepping closer and pulling her into a tight hug.

She was soft and warm, Sousuke noted, as he held the sniffling girl. She pressed closer to him, her face nuzzling into his neck, just at the crook of his shoulder blades. He felt a warm tear fall onto the bare skin near his collar and he held her tightly, his arms circling her back and waist. They'd held like this before; just before Sousuke had left for Tokyo. She'd been small and thin, then, but she wasn't anymore. He could feel full breasts pressing into his chest, and a curvy waist that ended in full hips. Sousuke flushed red, feeling a little guilty for thinking about her body while she was crying.

"Gomen," Kaori muttered, gently pushing away from his chest after a few seconds. She choked out a laugh when she saw how small her hand looked on his chest. "Is that all real?" she joked, poking a muscle lightly.

"I don't know," Sousuke replied with a grin. He glanced down at her chest obviously. "Is that?"

"Pervert," Kaori snapped, flushing a furious red. Sousuke couldn't help himself; he placed a thumb on her flaming red cheek and stroked it softly, while Kaori looked up at him, her purple eyes shining. "I'm glad you're back," she whispered finally.

"I'm glad to be back too," Sousuke replied.

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The day after Rin left for Australia, Kaori spotted Sousuke sitting alone in the park, on her way home from the library. She hesitated. He looked miserable, as anyone would be if their best friend left for another country. Kaori walked over and sat next to him on the concrete slab, putting her books on her lap quietly.

"I don't want to talk," Sousuke replied, not even looking up. He traced the dirt on the ground with a stick, before glancing at the pink-haired girl from the corner of his eye.

"You don't have to," she replied simply, opening the top book on her pile. "I'm just going to read."

Sousuke blinked, surprised when Kaori pushed her recently-acquired thick glasses up her nose and began to silently read. Her chin rested on her palm, while the other hand flipped pages. He sighed. Kaori was good at being silent, too. She could probably just sit here without talking all day if she wanted to. Sousuke was silent for a long time, before he finally said,

"I didn't want him to go."

Kaori looked up at Sousuke quietly. "Did you tell him that?"

"Of course not. I wasn't going to ask him not to follow his dreams," Sousuke replied sharply.

"Then you're a good friend."

Sousuke shrugged. It wasn't very comforting. He sighed and leaned forward to rest his chin on his knees, wrapping his arms around them. He closed his blue-green eyes and was quiet for a long moment. He glanced at Kaori; she wasn't reading anymore. She'd closed her book and was staring into the distance in the park, one hand twirling a strand of pink hair. He blinked at her. "It just hurts," Sousuke admitted with a sigh. "That he's going off to follow his dreams and I'm still here."

Kaori smiled. "You have your own dreams, right?"

"I want to become an international swimmer," Sousuke replied. He sighed. "But that's too far off."

There was a long silence, before Kaori slowly stood up, tucking her books under her arm. "Can I show you something, Sousuke-kun?"

Sousuke blinked at her. "What?"

"Just come."

He followed the pink-haired girl silently as she led him out of the park and down the street. They'd walked almost an entire block before Sousuke began to get annoyed and wonder what she was trying to do. "Kaori-chan, where are we going?" he demanded, a little annoyed as the pink haired girl walked quickly in front of him. After a moment, she stopped outside a large building.

"Here," she said simply.

Sousuke raised an eyebrow. "Here what?"

"This is an institution that offers coaching for the entrance exam to the University of Tokyo, Law Faculty," she replied, gesturing towards the building. Sousuke looked at it with interest. "I'm going to start going here in the evenings once I start high school. I'll take their mock tests so that when the time comes, I'll be prepared for the entrance exam."

"So that's your dream," Sousuke mused quietly. Kaori looked at him sharply.

"No. That's not my dream. That's my plan," Kaori replied. She gestured towards the building. "This is for when I reach high school. But it's going to start before that. Once we start middle school, I'm going to run for student council. I figure that will help me open up more and learn how to talk to people. I'm taking a part-time job at the local library, so that I can spend more time studying while I gain work experience. They look at things like that when you apply to the university. I'm also planning to volunteer at a few NGOs and animal shelters next summer."

Sousuke blinked. "You've really thought this through."

Kaori nodded. "I think that's the problem, Sousuke. You have a dream. Now you have to make a plan."

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"Was Rin glad to see you?" Kaori asked. They sat in a small ramen shop a few blocks away from her cram school, eating noodles. Sousuke had offered to take her out to dinner, and Kaori found that she couldn't refuse him. She tried to forget the fact that she had piles of work pending to do, and focused on the teal-eyed boy in front of her. He seemed almost too large to fit the chair, and Kaori wondered how he'd become so buff. Surely it wasn't all swimming?

Sousuke nodded lightly. "Yeah, Rin was glad. He's still the same."

"Really?" Kaori frowned. "He seemed different to me. I met him a few months ago, and he was really cold. He recognized me, but he didn't make any effort to speak to me. It was kind of… uncomfortable," she admitted. "Maybe he was going through a rough time."

"He said he hit a wall in Australia."

"Oh," Kaori blinked. "That's a shame. Is he okay now?"

"I think he's happy." Sousuke bit his lip, poking his chopsticks lazily at the plate. Kaori noticed that he wasn't eating much; he didn't seem to have any interest in his food. He was also being oddly quiet. He used to be much more talkative. Kaori watched him for a few seconds before speaking.

"You don't like the ramen here?" she asked.

Sousuke blinked. "What? No, it's great."

"You're not eating."

"I don't have much of an appetite," he explained quietly. He took a deep breath before his blue-green eyes turned to look up at her with a smile. "Tell me about yourself. I've been hearing things about you, young lady. Student Council president at Iwatobi, eh?"

Kaori flushed. "Shut up."

Sousuke smiled, and he reached across the table to take Kaori's hand. She blushed when he squeezed it comfortingly, his soft teal eyes looking straight into hers. "I'm not teasing you, Kaori. I'm really happy for you. I'm glad your life is on track and you're heading towards what you've always wanted. Just don't work too hard, okay?"

Kaori laughed. "Look who's talking. Didn't you once tell me there's no such thing as working too hard?"

"I was wrong," Sousuke replied harshly. Kaori blinked at his sudden change in tone, wondering what had upset him. But he'd released her hand and leaned back in his chair, teal eyes staring down at the half-eaten plate of ramen. "It's great to have a plan and a goal, but you can't lose yourself in that. You can't lose your balance."

"I won't," Kaori promised quietly.

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A/N – Thanks to all those who are reading! Do leave a review. I love writing Free/OC stories and I'm willing to take requests as well!