Chapter 13

Kaori bit her lip as she, Rin and Sousuke bent over the large freezer filled with ice creams and cold treats. It was a hot summer day, and they had just come out of elementary school. She looked around at all the choices, unable to make up her mind.

"Ne. What do you guys want?" Rin asked, glancing at Kaori and Sousuke.

"Hmm…" Sousuke hummed. Kaori reached into the freezer to move some of the treats around, so that they could see the ones that were buried underneath as well. As she shifted the ice creams, a large Popsicle with an orange wrapper came into view. Her eyes widened. That was the best one! Before Kaori could even move though, both Rin and Sousuke had reached for the treat.

Kaori blinked in surprise as both boys jerked away and instantly began playing rock, paper scissors loudly in the middle of the street. She watched quietly, a little disappointed, as Sousuke won the best out of three. Rin pouted and reached for a different treat. Kaori peeked into the freezer again as well. She still hadn't made her choice.

Sousuke tapped her on the shoulder. "Kaori-chan."

Kaori whirled around and saw Sousuke offering the orange popsicle to her. Her eyes widened.

"I mean… it was hidden underneath and we would never have seen it if you hadn't moved them around, so…" Sousuke rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as Kaori flushed a brilliant red. She mumbled a thank you and took the popsicle from him, gratefully.

Rin watched them smile shyly at each other, rolling his eyes. How stupid.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Sousuke was surprised when Kaori came straight to his house the next afternoon. He opened his bedroom door and blinked at the sight of his bespectacled girlfriend, looking smug as she stood there with her backpack slung over her shoulder.

"Kaori?" he asked. "Didn't you have cram school this morning?"

Kaori nodded, holding up a paper proudly. "I did. Guess who got the top rank in the last mock exam? I'll have you know that's three in a row. And considering this is the only cram school in our prefecture, I can safely announce that I am the best student here!" she replied proudly as Sousuke opened the door further and let her into his room.

Sousuke chuckled. He was glad to hear that she was doing so well in her mock papers. "I thought you had a little more modesty than that, Kaori. Have some sympathy on your classmates."

Kaori shrugged, looking around Sousuke's room as she stepped in. it seemed rather empty and desolate. She shuddered lightly, looking around at the scant number of belongings. She placed her bag on the floor. "This place looks uninhabited," she muttered.

Sousuke nodded. "Well, I don't spend much time here. All my stuff is in the dorms at school."

"Oh." Kaori turned to face him.

"What are you doing here, anyway? Shouldn't you go back home and study?"

"Oh, come on. I just topped a mock exam, can't I take a few hours off?" Kaori pouted. She blinked up at him innocently. "You're not busy, are you? I should have called but I thought I'd give you a surprise. Besides, it's been so long since I've been to your house. And I'm not allowed in your dorms at Samezuka."

Sousuke raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Fine. Although you won't find anything of interest here. Maybe we should go out to eat or something."

"Not hungry enough," Kaori replied simply. She spotted a couple of training weights and small dumbbells lying in the corner of the room and her eyes widened in curiosity. Sousuke watched as she bent down and peered at them in interest. "Hmm. Do you lift these weights, Sousuke-kun? They don't look very big," she mused, glancing at him teasingly.

"They're heavier than they look."

"I bet they're not," Kaori replied lightly, reaching down to lift one simply. She let out a shocked squeak as she realized how heavy it was and stumbled backward, almost dropping it on her own foot. Sousuke's eyes widened as she clumsily dropped it back on the ground and massaged her arm. "Oww…"

"Baka! You'll injure yourself!" he scolded Kaori, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the weights. "What are you, five years old? And I'm supposed to believe that you're the top candidate for Tokyo University from our prefecture?" Sousuke asked her with a frown.

Kaori flushed as she sat on his bed and rubbed her arm. "Sorry"

Sousuke sighed and placed a hand on her slightly red cheek, stroking it gently. He couldn't help but notice how cute she was when she was embarrassed. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Be more careful. Your exam's next Saturday, isn't it? How are you going to Tokyo?"

Kaori nodded. "My Dad said he'd drive me there. It's just a little over two hours. He has some official work there that day anyway. What about you? When are you leaving for nationals?"

"A bunch of my teammates are taking the train on Saturday morning."

"The train? But that takes practically four hours considering all the exchanges, it's much faster by road!" Kaori replied. She smiled and peered up at him through her thick glasses. "You should come with me and Ojisan. He won't mind. Although you can't tell him that we're dating. He'd freak out."

Sousuke raised an eyebrow. "Your parents don't know that we're dating? Your Mom's been giving me sly smiles whenever I come over with your library books or food."

"She suspects, but she doesn't know for sure. Dad has no clue. It's kind of embarrassing, you know," Kaori replied, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously. "They still treat me like a kid. That's why I'm so glad they never found out about the drinking incident. Maybe I'll tell them once I start college."

"Hmm." Sousuke mused. He opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by the faint sound of his mother calling out to him from downstairs. Sousuke sighed and moved closer to the door, opening it and peeking out. "I'm coming, okaasan!" he called out, before turning back to Kaori. "She probably needs help reaching something in the kitchen. She's been using me as a step-ladder all week."

Kaori giggled, thinking that anybody would want to use her tall boyfriend for the same purpose. "Or maybe she just misses you because you're rarely home. Go ahead, I'll wait."

"I'll be back in a second," Sousuke mumbled, before exiting the room. Kaori sat quietly in the room for a few moments, before leaning back on his bed. It was soft and she sighed, closing her eyes. She was tired. She'd been up all night studying and had to run to cram school early in the morning to write her mock exam. As she felt her eyes drift closed, Kaori quickly sat up and slapped her cheeks lightly. No. Don't fall asleep in Sousuke's house, you idiot. Besides, if she fell asleep during the day, then her entire sleep schedule would be ruined and she wouldn't be able to study.

I should wash my face. She noticed the bathroom door in Sousuke's room and entered it quietly. There were a number of things on the sink countertop. Kaori looked at them with interest, feeling a little curious. She glanced at what appeared to be shaving cream, cologne, shampoo... She noticed a small bottle that appeared to be some sort of a spray. Pain relief? She wondered lightly, looking at it. There was a long undecipherable name and something about muscle cramps written on it. Did all athletes keep these in case of emergencies?

Kaori blinked at it and then turned on the tap, splashing her face with cold water to wake herself up. She glanced in the mirror and realized that there were dark circles under her eyes, hidden by her thick glasses. She sighed as water dripped down her face. I need a towel. Unfortunately, no such thing existed in Sousuke's bathroom. Rather, the only thing hanging on the towel rack was some oddly shaped sling type thing made of what appeared to be foam.

Is that…. A shoulder brace? Kaori remembered a boy in her class breaking his arm last year and wearing something similar to school for a number of days. But it wasn't quite the same… Kaori shook her head and walked out of the bathroom. She managed to find a handkerchief in her backpack and used that to wipe her face. She was just putting it back in when Sousuke entered the room.

"Hey. Sorry about leaving you. Okaasan made lunch, do you want to come and eat?" he asked her lightly.

Kaori nodded and followed him out of the room.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Good luck, Kaori-senpai!"

"Kaichou! Do well on your exam!"

Kaori smiled and waved at the other Student Council Members as they all wished her luck. It was Friday evening, and her exam was the very next day. Kaori could feel a constant restlessness. She was relieved that school was over. At least now she could go home and revise everything she'd been studying for the past few months.

Kaori passed by the swimming pool area, just in time to see the boys from the Iwatobi Swim Club headed towards it. She smiled and waved at them. Gou waved eagerly in return, and the other boys turned to look at her as well. "Hey guys!" Kaori greeted. "Good luck for nationals tomorrow! Gambatte!"

"Thank you, Kaori-san!" Makoto replied.

Gou smiled. "Hey, Kaori-senpai, isn't your entrance exam tomorrow? I heard one of the teachers talking about it today. She said that she hoped you would ace it and bring pride to the school!"

Kaori flushed nervously. "Well. That's a little too much pressure. Besides, the ones who have brought pride to the school are you guys; making it all the way to nationals! You must have worked so hard! I wish I'd been there to see regionals!"

Nagisa grinned at her happily. "Hai! Regionals were great! Although, Kaori-senpai, you might have gotten upset after seeing Sou-chan falter during the race considering he-" he was cut off by a sharp jab to his elbow, and Makoto smiled at Kaori apologetically. Kaori was blinking down at the blonde-haired boy, who was rubbing his arm.

"Sorry, Kaori-san!" Makoto apologized, chuckling nervously. "Nagisa doesn't know how to address people. How many times have we told you not to call him Sou-chan. Remember how Rin said not to do it? Do you remember what else Rin said not to say?"he asked, looking at Nagisa pointedly.

Nagisa's pink eyes narrowed. "Why not? What else would I call him? I'm sure Kaori-senpai calls him that too!"

Kaori opened her mouth to respond, just as her phone rang. She was curious about the uncomfortable looks they were giving each other, but she smiled apologetically at the Iwatobi Swim Club. They all hurried away, waving goodbye to her. Taking a deep breath, Kaori answered her phone.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Kaori-chan, it's Akira! I need your help! So I was doing the last sample questions paper from the booklet we got last time, do you remember? Right, so in the General Knowledge section there's this question which says that..."

Kaori took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Right. Her exam. She had to focus on that. Nothing else mattered for now.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

A/N – Hey, everyone! Thanks for your review again, LilShorty0594, and thanks for taking the time to review every chapter! It really means a lot! You know what? I've thought about the Free water gun thing, because that ova is amazing! You may see just it a few chapters down the line, but no telling! ;)

Also, considering Iwatobi is fictional, I don't really know how far it is from Tokyo. So I looked up Sano, and apparently there's a place called Sano that's at the distance from Tokyo I mentioned in the chapter. So I'm just going with that. Sorry if it's inaccurate.

Hope you enjoyed, do let me know what you thought!