Thank you to eeryone who has favorited or reviewed this! Ya'll seriously have some of the best things to say and I'm glad you're liking the story so far! Hope I can keep it up!

This chapter I hope isn't too boring...

Disclaimer: I own nothing~! Song is from Lydia's album "Iluminate"

A Fine Evening For a Rogue

"Gou!"

Chigusa yells from down the side walk.

Gou smiles, waving at her friend. She doesn't bother trying to correct her that it's Kou.

As she approaches Chigusa, she realizes it's not just Chigusa, but Nagisa as well standing there, waiting for Gou to catch up.

"Nice bag!" Nagisa compliments, winking at Gou. Her steps feel lighter and today feels like a good day. A great day.

"Thank you," she winks back.

She can see Chigusa and Nagisa wash over with relief.

"Practice today—don't be late!" Mikoshiba claps his hand on Rin's back, knocking him off balance slightly in the hallway.

Rin grimaces, almost snarling at his captain.

"Rin didn't get much sleep last night," Ai mutters when Mikoshiba stops in the hallway to observe Rin brush his shoulder as if Mikoshiba's touch contaminated him. Rin does look worse for ware, and while Mikoshiba understands why, he can't say he feels the same.

"Hm? That's no good…" Mikoshiba voices. Last night wasn't the greatest night.

Well, maybe for Rin it wasn't.

"Why is captain in such a good mood?" Nitori observes, and Mikoshiba winces at the realization that his over-exuberance might tip off Matsuoka on what happened last night.

"I, ah, just had a really good sleep!"

"Eh? Was it because of a girl?" Ai teases.

Rin suddenly is attentive to the exchange of words and Mikoshiba can't help himself; he has to tease his teammate. He knows he shouldn't be so insensitive, considering all that's happened, but he really can't help himself.

"Mm! I dreamed of Gou last night-"

"Bastard!"

"Don't be late for practice, you two!"

"Mikoshiba! Get back here-!"

Throughout the day, Gou finds herself never alone, even for a moment.

Chigusa clings to her arm, following her between classes and to the bathroom. At lunch, when Chigusa splits away for a moment to get a drink, Gou is immediately met by Rei. Anytime throughout the day that Gou isn't with Chigusa, one of the swim club members seems to rotate by her side in place.

Like they're taking shifts being with her.

That afternoon, after school, the Iwatobi swim team meets for an impromptu swim practice. Their season is over, but Haru has been physically wilting without water and Makoto declares they could use a good practice to swim off some steam.

It's a grueling practice, with each boy giving it their all. Gou times them and Miss Amakata even sets out snacks for the boys. When they finally decide to call it a day, Gou feels drained all the same and decides to go straight home and nap.

She checks her phone, half expecting Rin to have texted her. Wouldn't you think he would?

[No new messages.]

Oh.

Gou isn't that surprised when Makoto approaches her from outside the club house, casually asking if she'll allow him to walk her home.

She is a bit surprised to find Chigusa sitting just outside the school doors, waiting for her, also offering to walk home with them.

She's annoyed when Miss Amakata's van pulls up along in front of them and she offers all of them a ride home.

When she gets home, not a minute later Chigusa texts her asking if she made it into her house alright.

Gou almost texts her friend back that she'd seen her enter her house, but bites back that remark and simply replies [yes].

She's too tired to start on her homework, so she sets an alarm for a nap and allows herself to doze off for a moment.

She imagines the boys, swimming with exposed muscles and setting new personal bests, and of Miss Amakata's homemade snacks.

She dreams of Mikoshiba, holding her, and then the kiss. And the second, and the third…

And she dreams of Kent. Pinning her, gripping her, kissing her—

Gou's eyes shoot open and she sets a hand on her chest, trying to settle it. She's suddenly aware of a buzzing. She assumes it's her alarm, but upon checking her phone finds it to be a message.

No doubt Chigusa checking in on her once an hour. It for sure won't be Rin.

It's Mikoshiba.

[Finishing practice now. How about Friday for that date? ]

Gou is still pushing the nightmare from her thoughts, smiling as she texts Mikoshiba back.

[Sure!]

At the sound of his phone's alert, Mikoshiba snaps his phone open. He can't stop the grin that plasters on his face the moment he reads Gou's text.

"Captain must have had a really good dream," Nitori mutters from beside him. Mikoshiba laughs nervously, shutting his phone and tossing his towel aside. He needs to change and get to studying soon.

Matsuoka is beside Nitori, studying Mikoshiba closely with an irritated glint in his eyes.

"You really have been happier today…what really happened?"

Mikoshiba really shouldn't, but he winks at Rin, "I told you. I had a great dream! And it just keeps getting better-!"

"Mikoshiba!"

"That's captain Mikoshiba! Now, now, Matsuoka—you wouldn't come between a man and his destiny, would you?"

"Captain, you shouldn't tease Rin…"

"My sister is not your destiny, bastard!"

The next day is much the same. Gou wakes up to a text from Mikoshiba, already wishing her good morning. She notices it was sent an hour before she woke up, which she assumes means he sent before his own morning swim practice.

(Mikoshiba spends that entire practice worrying that Gou got his text, read it, and found him irritating somehow and refuses to text back. When he returns to his locker and phone after practice, only then does he receive her text claiming that she was [still asleep, sorry, but good morning to you, too!] He chastises himself for jumping to such an ill conclusion. Who in their right mind is up at 6 in the morning?)

Gou sneaks in a few texts between classes, which she's both ashamed of and excited for. Chigusa hisses at her to put her phone away before their teacher catches her, and only then does Gou set it away in her bag.

She's not used to texting this much.

It only ever was her one sided texts to Rin, and the occasional reminder about practice to the boys.

At lunch, Gou doesn't even eat half of her packed meal because she's too busy rapidly replying to Mikoshiba's texts.

"Who do you keep texting?!" Chigusa demands, upset from being ignored all lunch.

Gou blushes, setting her phone aside to snap her chopsticks apart.

"A friend…"

Chigusa pulls a look that clearly calls Gou out on trying to get away with just saying 'a friend'. Gou shrugs but Chigusa squirms closer to her until Gou gives.

"Mikoshiba, alright!"

Hana squeals and Gou sighs, knowing exactly why she didn't outright say his name to begin with.

"What's happening?! Gou has herself a boyfriend?!"

"I-it's not like that!"

"When's your date?"

Gou shrugs, pretending not to know. She'd normally like to talk to Chigusa about this kind of thing—about Mikoshiba and her upcoming date and how she feels giddy about it all. Except she also feels guilty.

Guilty that this relationship is building out of this whole Kent ordeal and how, while she's glad she's becoming closer with Mikoshiba, she feels herself suddenly becoming more distant from Rin, which is eating away at her (not to mention now how she feels herself pulling away from Chigusa, her closest friend).

That thought sets Gou straight and she decides to correct herself, blurting, "But I think we're looking at Friday."

Chigusa smiles between bites, genuinely happy for Gou, at that's a relief.

Gou still won't tell Chigusa about how she saw Mikoshiba the other night, after the party. Or about how he kissed her.

She hasn't even told Chigusa about how Kent kissed her.

"Get ready for warm-up! It's a land drill! Don't change out of your sweats!" Mikoshiba calls throughout the locker room. Rin watches him closely. He's still grinning like an idiot-more so than yesterday, if that was possible.

"Have you spoken to Gou yet?" Nitori suddenly asks Rin, which catches him off guard.

"Eh? N-no…"

To his surprise, Nitori frowns at him, concerned.

"Rin. You haven't spoken once to Gou since Monday night?"

Rin shrugs.

"Rin."

"Ai," Rin warns. But, Nitori is right.

He doesn't know why he's avoiding talking to Gou. He's worried about her, sure, but she seems to be doing alright. Makoto texts him an update every afternoon, after he walks Gou home. No one's called telling him that she's in trouble or that white haired bastard is back.

(Rin doesn't even know his name. He never asked Gou if even she knows)

Gou still doesn't text him in the morning. Did he loose that privilege? Did he have too many strikes against him from never replying to her that he's lost that forever? She'll never text him again?

He'd said last week that he preferred it this way, without her always texting him, but it's starting to get to him now.

The gloom sets in and he physically looks worse off, so Ai starts to panic.

"I-I'm sure Gou isn't still mad at you or anything! She's probably just got a lot on her mind, or-"

"She has every right to be mad at me."

Rin slams his locker shut, balling his hand into a fist.

"I wasn't there for until…when it counted…" He mutters, half to Nitori but mostly to himself.

"Y-you were there for her the other day! You saved her -"

"-No." Rin counters, but he doesn't explain further.

In his head, all he can think about is how Mikoshiba got to Gou that first time. How she pushed him away because she thought he was another one of those thugs.

("That was a misunderstanding-she didn't see who she ran into!" He can hear Nitori countering.)

He thinks of how frightened Chigusa was when she realized what was happening and why it wasn't a good thing that Gou had walked away with that boy. And he thinks of finding Gou in that state, with that bastard on her. And the fear in Gou's eyes, not only when he found her, but when he looked at her after beating the crap out of the creep.

And how even now, Gou still won't text him.

("Text her first, then!" Nitori whines in his head.)

Rin's phone is sitting at the top of his gym bag, and he contemplates taking it out.

He could just reach inside, find Gou's number, and simply text her [Hi]. Like he should have the day before yesterday. Like he should have Saturday, or a week ago, or when he was still in Australia.

He reaches for his bag.

"Let's go! One lap around the school! C'mon, Matsuoka! Nitori!"

Rin flinches but draws his hand back.

He'll text her when he gets back.

"But good luck today out there!" Amakata waves, locking her classroom door behind her as Rei nods. Miss Amakata doesn't say exactly what she has going on today that she can't make it to practice, but he notices she's wearing perfume and he wonders if she has a date tonight.

Rei runs into Chigusa and Gou on his way to the pool.

"Heading to practice?"

"Mm!"

"Miss Amakata won't be able to make it, she just told me."

"Oh really?"

"Oh! Did she just leave?"

"Mm. Why?"

Gou pouts, "I left the water bottles in her classroom yesterday, when I was helping her carry in the snack boxes." What kind of manager doesn't properly put up the water bottles? Gou frowns.

"Ah, it'll be fine-"

"No, I'll pick some drinks up at the vending machine! You guys work hard, so the least I can do is support you all!"

Chigusa pipes up immediately offering to go help Gou bring in drinks. Gou saw that one coming. Rei just nods, grateful, before separating from the two. Gou tells him to have Makoto start practice without her, she'll be back soon.

Rei wonders why Gou has suddenly been much livelier the past couple of days. He wonders if the party had anything to do with it, he thinks proudly to himself.

Walking, Gou decides to fill the silence by confessing to Chigusa about the other night.

"Hana, I have something I want to tell you…"

"Mm?" Chigusa whips around to face Gou.

"It's about the other night…"

Chigusa's face seems to freeze somewhere between anticipation and dread, like she isn't sure if Gou is opening up about the white-haired boy or not. She assumes as much, because as far as she's concerned, that's the only thing Gou has to confess about.

"I saw Mikoshiba that night."

"Eh?!"

They've reached the vending machines now, but before Gou can say anything else she's scowling in disappointment.

"'Out of order'?!" Gou reads, crossing her arms.

"Do you think there are some extra water bottles in the club house?"

Gou shakes her head. Those were the only ones they could afford.

"There's a convenience store just up the street. We could run there and back—the boys should be fine for a little longer!"

Chigusa doesn't argue because this will just give them a longer opportunity for Gou to tell her all about Mikoshiba.

Outside, Chigusa quickly asks, unable to contain her curiosity, "So?! When did you see him?"

Gou blushes, scratching at her temple and avoiding looking at Chigusa, "…he was at my house."

Chigusa snickers. "Did Rin see him?"

Gou shrinks, "no."

Chigusa makes a noise, suddenly intrigued by the drama playing out. "Gou! What happened?! Why was he there?"

"Just checking on me," Gou shrugs.

This Mikoshiba really cares a lot about Gou, Chigusa decides.

"Gou?"

Gou freezes, because there's no way this is happening again.

Chigusa turns around before Gou does, confused at who has followed them. Gou confirms who it is by seeing the look of terror reflected in her friend's eyes.

"Gou…Kou, can we talk?"

Gou still doesn't turn around.

It's Kent.

And he's here. He has the nerve to once again show up at her school-

Chigusa steps suddenly between the two, though Gou doesn't turn around to see her throw her hands out.

"St-stay away from Gou!"

"I-I came to talk. Will you talk to me?" He asks, talking right through Chigusa.

Like hell! Gou thinks, still refusing to turn around. Slowly, she begins reaching into her bag. Where's her phone?!

"Please…I just want to talk."

It's now that Gou looks over her shoulder, turning slowly as if any sudden movements will startle him into violent action.

Kent doesn't look how Gou remembers him. The white haired boy from her nightmares with lit eyes and a wicked smile.

He seems dull. He looks genuinely apologetic, and while she won't let her guard down, she does feel a lurch of pity for him suddenly.

Like hell she should pity him! What he did was wrong and the moment she finds her phone…

"May we talk?"

Good grammar and a softer tone won't reward you her forgiveness, she thinks, but she stops blindly reaching into her bag.

"I don't have anything to say to you."

"I do. Will you hear me out? Please?"

Gou frowns. She hates that she's listening to him right now!

"Gou." Chigusa warns, and she's worried.

"Could we go somewhere?" That flares her up again, "-public! I'll let you choose where. We can go where there are people. You don't have to walk by me even; ten paces in front!" He throws his hands up like it's a joke but she thinks ten paces isn't enough.

Chigusa shakes her head, "No way is she going with you, creep!"

"What do you have to say to me?" Gou ignores Chigusa.

"Sit down with me and hear me out."

Gou doesn't trust him, but against her better judgment, she slowly nods once. She is prepared for him to jump them at any moment, but she'd rather Chigusa wasn't in the middle of it.

"I choose where we go?"

"Gou?!"

"You lead," he offers.

"No. You walk in front. I'll tell you where to go."

He nods, "Fair enough."

Chigusa looks horrified.

"Gou-"

"Go ahead back to practice, Hana," Gou offers, but Chigusa looks questioningly at her. Is this really alright?

Gou tries to smile, "I'll be fine."

Chigusa doesn't believe her.

Chigusa knows she'll tell the swim team the moment she's there, but Gou sees this too and leans in to mutter quiet enough so Kent doesn't hear, "Don't tell the boys."

"Gou!" Chigusa hisses. She can't-

"Hana. Please."

Chigusa pouts, and she almost looks ready to cry but slowly nods.

"I hope you know what you're doing…"

Gou smiles reassuringly, "I do."

She doesn't.

"Where to?" Kent asks, drawing attention back to the present; to him.

"The café just at the corner. Start walking."

Gou follows Kent, leaving Hana standing there, still waiting on Gou to tell her the story of what happened the other night with Mikoshiba.

Chigusa is fast walking back to the pool, phone in hand. She's forgotten completely about the drinks. She keeps thinking of how stupid Gou is, going with him alone! How can she trust him?! What if he grabs her the second the streets are clear and drags her away with him? Again?!

Gou made her promise not to tell the swim club. Chigusa knows that's a bad idea; they're the closest and would reach her the quickest in time.

But, she doesn't want to go back on her promise.

So, she calls the next best person.

The person Gou didn't make Chigusa promise not to call.

"Hello?"

"Rin. Get here now—Gou is with him."

A/N: Random facts: I felt a little bad having Mikoshiba joke about Rin's sister; maybe not the greatest timing, but I also felt like Mikoshiba was becoming OOC; he hasn't been happy enough I think in this story~ At the moment, the tension between Rin and Mikoshiba isn't too noticably bad, but it's gonna get heated-especially with Gou involved~

This chapter seems so domestic, kinda boring in the beginning..."So this day went like this, and the text was this_" Sorry...

I do love Chigusa and Gou's relationship though. The show doesn't show because it isn't so much about female friendships, so I liked showing that side between these two. Originally Gou just keeps everything to herself and doesn't tell Chigusa anything, but I realized Gou is too nice and prlly really close to Chigusa, so why sacrifice their relationship for more angst? I thought how would I talk to my friends...

I feel kinda bad, putting so much emphasis on how little I like OCs and then reacurringly bringing Kent back pretty much every other chapter. I just like the drama that centers around him~ And for the reviewer who borught it up (But I can't remember who it was at the top of my head, sorry!) on Kent-redemption, considering he shows up this much, I can't say this story is going to end and Kent will leave a good taste in your mouth, but I'll say this much for the OC-he's not about to kidnap and force himself onto Gou again (Not that the others don't know that...)

This conversation, much like with Chigusa not going in after Gou herself, doesn't sit too convincingly on me. I tried to make it seem important to Gou that she have this one on one with Kent-yes, he's messed up and has hurt her but Gou seems nice enough and I feel like she'd try to find the ebst in anyone, so she wants to give him this chance, so long as she feels safe, to talk to her, whetehr she likes what he has to say or not. She doesn't want Chigusa to tell the swim team cause they're a bunch of misfits, you know them, and again she's giving Kent this uninterupted chance. So, maybe it's not smart of Gou to make Chigusa not tell the boys, but maybe she knows Chigusa will and is just trying to buy Kent enough time to say what he needs to enough to let Gou decide whetehr 'wow, no, he's a jerk' or '...' no, pretty sure her mind is settled with 'wow he's a jerk' :p Also, Gou agreeing to go alone with Kent is her trying to get Chigusa away from him-she's trying to kinda protect Chiguds, too, I think~ (Suspension of Disbelief goes so far~)

So, more drama cause this story is gonna drag out like that~ I can say Kent won't be in every chapter to come; in fact, next chapter is his last for a while (Everyone rejoice~) But. In place of Kent will be tension between Mikoshiba and Rin that escalates quickly, especially in the next chapter; more fluffy SeiGou; more distant-and-angsty Matsuoka siblings and~ next to none Haru~ (Oh gosh, I do love Haru haha I just cannot write him.)

Sorry this A/N was so long! Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing! This chapter was a set-up chapter (Every other chapter seems to be this way; I promise the mold breaks with the next couple of chapters!) Hey, look, halfway done with the story~ (You're probably thinking 'there's more?! D:') I'll post next chapter soon!