Chapter 8
The morning of the medley relay at prefecturals, Kaori was waiting outside the stadium. She frowned and glanced at her watch, wondering what was taking so long. She and Gou had arrived almost twenty minutes ago but the Samezuka team was yet to turn up.
"I hope they're not going to be late," Kaori mumbled. Gou, who was standing next to her, gave her a reassuring smile. They had travelled all the way till the stadium together, along with Ama-chan sensei and Coach Sasabe.
"Don't worry, Kaori-chan! My brother would never be late to a tournament. Besides, he's really excited about swimming the relay today, so I'm sure they'll get here." Gou frowned and looked at the time herself. "Now on the other hand, the Iwatobi team… those boys I don't trust as much."
Kaori smiled as she saw a large bus pull into the parking lot. She sighed in relief when a group of boys in Samezuka jackets began to descend from it. Kaori hurried over to it, waiting a little distance from the door of the bus as the students began to descend. Momotarou was one of the first people to get down and he spotted Kaori instantly.
"Kaori-senpai!" Momotarou greeted her happily. "Are you here to watch the relay?"
Kaori nodded and smiled politely at the orange-haired boy. "Hai. I really wanted to see Sousuke-kun swim. Are you swimming the medley relay too, Mikoshiba-kun? I hope you guys win!"
Momotarou's expression suddenly fell and he trudged away, grumbling to himself incoherently. Kaori frowned as she watched him sulk, wondering what she had said to offend the boy. As she watched him mope, however, she didn't notice that Sousuke and Rin had come up to her. "Hey. You're here early. Have you been waiting long?" Sousuke asked Kaori with a small smile.
Kaori beamed and reached up to hug Sousuke quickly. He put one hand on her waist as the small, pink-haired girl struggled to reach up and put her arms around his shoulders. He chuckled as she released him quickly and stumbled back. "You finally came! I've been waiting since forever! How are you feeling?" she asked eagerly.
"I'm fine," Sousuke replied.
"You seem more excited than Sousuke, Kaori-chan," Rin commented lightly. The little pink-haired girl was bouncing on her feet, but she calmed down when he spoke. Kaori narrowed her eyes at him and put her hand on her hips.
"Rin. I spent two hours on a bus this morning to get here, while my ass ached and your sister ranted about nothing but abs and biceps. If you don't win after all the efforts I took to get here, you will have a very angry Kaori on your hands," she threatened. Although the fact that she was about a head shorter than him, and her glasses were sliding down her nose, didn't help.
Rin raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I'm so scared," he replied with a grin. Then he turned around to face his teammates. "All right! Everyone, get inside!"
Kaori watched as all the Samezuka swimmers followed Rin into the building. She noticed Momotarou still sulking, and pointed him out to Sousuke. "Why is he so upset?" Kaori asked.
"He just wants a girlfriend to watch him swim," Sousuke replied with a sigh. "Don't worry about him, he'll be fine. I'm more concerned about Rin's ability to keep him away from Gou-chan." Sousuke glanced down at Kaori and smiled. "Thank you for coming."
Kaori smiled. "Why wouldn't I? I love watching you swim. You'll let me come watch your tournaments even when we're in Tokyo, right?" she asked.
Sousuke cleared his throat. "Yeah, of course."
Kaori nodded, just as she spotted the Iwatobi boys wearing their school jackets, and going up to the auditorium entrance. Kaori smiled and waved at them, calling out their names. "Makoto-kun! Haruka-kun! Good luck for today!" she yelled out. They smiled (well, Makoto did) and waved back at her, as Sousuke slipped his arm around Kaori's waist and pulled her into his side. He leaned down so his lips were near her ear.
"Don't wish my competitors luck in front of me," he growled softly.
Kaori flushed as Sousuke pulled her closer. She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked up at his teasing blue-green eyes with a grin. "I don't think it matters. No amount of luck will help them against you, now will it?" Kaori whispered, as she slowly wrapped her arms around his neck.
"That's right," Sousuke muttered possessively.
"All the same, if you're feeling jealous…" Kaori slid her fingers into his short hair and pulled his head down so she could place a soft kiss on his lips. Sousuke closed his eyes as Kaori kissed him slowly. She could feel his strong arms around her waist, holding her up as she gently pressed her lips to his. "Good luck, Sousuke," Kaori whispered, before giving him another quick peck on the cheek. "Ganbatte."
Sousuke smiled, releasing her before turning to leave. Kaori paused for a moment. For some reason, the image of Sousuke glaring at Haruka Nanase came to mind. She called after him. "Sousuke!"
Sousuke turned around. "What?"
"Don't… don't make this a personal thing. Just have fun, okay?" she said quietly.
Sousuke gave her a long, expressionless look before turning back and walking into the stadium.
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Kaori cheered loudly along with the rest of the Samezuka team, when the display on the board showed that they'd won the relay. Her throat was hoarse, and she smiled when she watched the Samezuka team high-five each other happily. They'd won! Kaori grinned as all the boys sitting near her erupted in cheers. The Iwatobi team seemed too shocked to respond, and Kaori felt a sudden pity for them. She knew they'd been working hard as well.
Kaori grabbed her things and hurried down so that she could meet Sousuke once he came out of the locker room. She was waiting, leaning against the wall outside when Momotarou emerged from the locker room. His orange hair was dripping wet and he had a huge grin on his face. Kaori smiled at the excited boy and waved to him.
"Momotarou-kun! You were really amazing there, congratulations!" she told him.
Momotarou beamed at the sight of her and hurried over, a spring in his step. "Kaori-senpai! Were you watching? Wasn't it amazing! I can't believe my brother wasn't here too see this! My first victory after I started at Samezuka…"
"I'm sure everyone will tell him about it," Kaori replied kindly.
"Are you waiting for Sousuke-senpai?" he asked.
Kaori nodded. "Hai. I wanted to congratulate him. I'm sure this win meant a lot. What's wrong, why do you look so disappointed, Momotarou-kun?" Kaori asked, as the orange-haired boy's face drooped miserably.
"I wish I had a girlfriend who would come watch my tournaments," he grumbled. He looked up at Kaori eagerly. "Ne, Kaori-senpai! What is it about Sousuke-senpai that you find attractive? I mean, why did you start liking him? Is it because he's so talented?" Momo asked curiously.
Kaori flushed. Why did she like Sousuke? "I… I don't know," she said nervously. "Why do you asl?"
"I want to know what girls find attractive in guys!"
"I suppose it depends from person to person, really…"
"Kaori-senpai! Please! You have to help me, please teach me how to find a girlfriend! Tell me how Sousuke-senpai wooed you! I want a relationship like yours!" Momo pleaded. He went down on his knees in front of Kaori and clasped his hands together in a pleading gesture. Shocked, Kaori hurriedly stepped away from him and backed against the wall. "Please, please, Kaori-senpai, you have to!"
"Oye."
The voice came from the entrance to the lockers and Kaori breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Sousuke emerge. As cute as Momotarou was, he was a little too much for her to handle. Sousuke walked over, his blue-green eyes looking at Momo harshly. Momo blinked. "Sousuke-senpai! I was just-"
"I don't care. Get lost," Sousuke replied, using one hand to grab the back of Momo's neck and pull him up from the floor. Momotarou's head drooped and he mumbled an apology, trudging away with a frown. As he was halfway down the corridor, Sousuke called after him. "Oye. Momotarou."
Momo looked up hopefully. "Hai, Sousuke-senpai?"
"Good swimming today," Sousuke replied simply. Momo grinned and hurried away, trying to catch up with his other teammates. Kaori watched him leave, before turning to look at Sousuke. His gaze was fixed on the ground and his shoulders were stiff. Kaori gently placed a hand on his arm.
"Sousuke? Are you okay?" she asked.
Sousuke looked up quickly and forced a smile. "Of course."
"You were amazing today," Kaori replied with a grin. She slid her hand down into his and entwined their fingers together. "I haven't seen you and Rin swim with so much passion since we were kids. I really enjoyed it. I can't wait to see the regionals."
Sousuke stiffened. "Regionals? You can't come to those."
Kaori frowned. "Why not?"
"It's bad enough that you missed cram school today to come here. Taking a trip to regionals and back would take two full days at least. You can't afford to take time like that off just before your exams. You need to focus, Kaori," Sousuke replied seriously. His eyes looked down at her sharply. "Don't you care about going to Tokyo?"
Kaori released his arm and glared at him. "Why do you keep saying things like that?"
"Because you don't seem to be focusing on your studies!"
"My studies are going fine!" Kaori snapped. "Will you stop worrying about them?"
"I am worried about them! Don't get distracted during a crucial time like this!"
Kaori frowned, feeling a sudden anger bubble up inside of her. She'd come all the way here to prefecturals just because he had asked her to, and now he was scolding her for coming? Couldn't he at least act happy that she was here? He'd been perfectly fine earlier when he saw her before the relay! Kaori took a deep, shuddering breath. "There's something wrong with you," she said quietly.
Sousuke flinched. "What?"
"There's something wrong with you," Kaori replied firmly. Behind her thick glasses, her purple eyes were glowing. "You never used to act like this. You never scolded me for not studying, you never used to lose your temper this way. For god's sake, you just won a relay with your best friend! What is your problem?"
"I don't have any problems," Sousuke replied. "I just want you to study."
"I know that I have to study!" Kaori exploded at him. "I don't need you to keep nagging me about it, you're not my mother. For god's sake, even she doesn't nag me this much! I am not a child! I know how to handle my time and my responsibilities, why can't you trust me to do that?"
"Because you keep doing stupid things like wasting time coming to my swimming competitions!"
"You asked me to come!"
"You should have said no!"
Kaori stared at him in bewilderment. "Do you even know how absurd you sound right now?" she demanded. She took a deep breath. "Sousuke, I used to be a stupid, quiet little girl who followed you, and Rin, and Kisumi around like a tail. But I'm not like that anymore. I have my own mind. I am a responsible, independent woman and I deserve to be treated like one. So tell me what your problem is. Why do you get mad at the thought of me not studying?"
Sousuke looked down at her in shock. "I do respect you. I just want to be sure that you go to Tokyo."
"And you don't trust that I'm capable of doing that?" Kaori demanded. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open a little. "Is that it? You don't believe that I can make it through the exam? You don't think I'll get into my dream college?"
Sousuke closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. "Don't say that. That's not true."
"Then why are you acting this way? Why can't you just be like you used to?" Kaori cried.
"Maybe I'm not the same person I used to be!" Sousuke yelled. "Maybe I've changed! Did you ever consider that? Maybe I can't be the same Sousuke you fell in love with in middle school!"
Kaori flinched when he yelled, and pressed her back against the wall. She could feel tears forming in her eyes as she looked at Sousuke's furious expression. Why was he doing this? Her lips trembled as she spoke. "You don't need to be the same Sousuke you were in middle school," Kaori replied shakily. "Just don't be the one you are now." Her fingers trembled as she backed away from him slowly and started to walk down the corridor.
Sousuke stared after her. He took a deep breath and clenched his fist, trying to control his voice. "Damn it. Kaori, please don't leave."
Kaori shook her head. "Why shouldn't I? You want me to study, don't you? Fine. I'm going home to study. Go to hell, Sousuke," she replied sharply, before hurrying down the corridor. Sousuke watched her leave, his clenched fist trembling in anger. What was he doing? Why was he hurting Kaori? He let out a loud, agonized yell and punched the wall in anger. It sent a shocking pain, starting from his knuckles, which then ended in his injured shoulder. Sousuke held back tears of pain as he leaned against the wall and clutched his arm.
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A/N – Thanks so much for reading and your reviews! I'm really enjoying writing this. Drama will ensue from this point onwards.
Enjoy!
