Updating for the weekend~ (IDK, maybe I'll update tomorrow night just depends on getting work done~) Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I own nothing~! Song title belongs to Lydia and is off their album "Illuminate"~
Fate
It's at that exact moment, before Rin can even begin to inhale to yell at Mikoshiba (or make a dive for his throat) that a sudden push lurches most of the Samezuka swim team forward, followed by the tumbling in of four panting Iwatobi swim club members, the rear slowly being brought up by an out-of-breadth Chigusa.
"Gou!" Nagisa yells, though he's bent over both knees and dripping wet, having just jumped from the pool.
They're all four half naked and wet, and Gou suddenly is more conscious about how this all must appear to everyone in the cafe.
The staff have thrown their hands up, retreating in frustration at how many of the kids are ignoring the 'no shoes no shirt' sign. Customers completely neglect their food in favor of watching the scene unfold. Gou would suggest that everyone move outside, except that no one would listen to her.
The Samezuka team huddles together, completely oblivious to what is happening and confused, muttering questions amongst themselves. Nitori is the only one with an inkling of an idea, standing amidst his teammates, but his attention is on Rin, who is glaring at Mikoshiba.
Mikoshiba seems to be glaring at Rin back, challenging him, still standing protectively close to Gou, whose eyes are on her swim team and friend, who are suddenly tripping over each other to stand and approach Gou.
"You shouldn't have gone out by yourself, Gou!" Nagisa whines.
The hilarity of the situation finally sinks in, and Gou bursts out laughing. She laughs so hard, tears form at the corner of her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Nagisa! I promise I won't again!" She yells between breaths, calming her giggling fit. Mikoshiba is amused, as are the Iwatobi boys (Mostly just relieved to see that Gou is alright).
Rin is the only one still fuming.
"The hell do you mean you're dating?!"
Chigusa gasps.
Mikoshiba scratches at his temple, realizing that in hindsight, blurting that might not have been the best move.
"Well, it means what it means," he shrugs.
"There's no-"
"Ah, you know, you're right!" Mikoshiba suddenly blushes, turning to face Gou. He grips both her hand sin his, looking her directly in the eye at her level and frowning in concentration, "Gou Matsuoka, will you be my girlfriend?"
Chigusa is spasming behind Haru, while Rin is fuming.
"I-"
"Absolutely not!"
"Rin!"
"There's no way my sister is dating you! Gou, let's go. We're going home!"
"Now, wait a second, you can't just drag her off like that!"
"Ah, we're still having swim practice! Gou needs to-"
"Stop!"
Everyone turns to face, surprisingly, Chigusa, whose happiness for her friend has quickly morphed into annoyance.
"Gou has been through a lot! She's coming home with me now and that's that."
Rin isn't satisfied with that, "But-"
"You can text her later about it! Right now, you," Chigusa turned to Mikoshiba, "have a swim practice to return to!" She quickly smiled an introductory wave, as if to say, 'By the way, I'm Chigusa. It's nice to finally meet you!' before turning straight to Makoto and adding, "as do you."
Makoto blushed in embarrassment. The Samezuka swim club gawked on as Chigusa contained to chew out everyone present.
"Gou will be spending the night at my house. Anyone who wishes to talk to her can either message her after their respective practices, or can wait until tomorrow!" Chigusa nodded with finality, concluding her orders. Turning to Gou, she reached out her hand.
"Gou," she offered.
Without a word, Gou stepped up and followed Chigusa from the café. She threw one final look back at Rin, who was speechless, and Mikoshiba, who, too, was at a loss for words.
Gou muttered a quiet sorry to the team for which she was manager, and then slipped from the café after Chigusa, who refused to stop to acknowledge anyone with goodbyes.
And so the gathered boys, a variety of half nude and clothed, stood gaping after the two girls in the center of the café.
"Here—you can borrow these," Chigusa offers Gou a folded pajama shirt and shorts.
Gou wonders how many times this week she's had to borrow clothes from someone. She still has Haru and Coach Sasabe's shirts; they've been washed and folded and she meant to bring them to school tomorrow.
"Thank you," is the most Gou has said since arriving at Chigusa's house. Chigusa's mother had been in the kitchen, preparing to head to the grocery store when the girls had first arrived and Chigusa declared that Gou was sleeping over. Her father would be home later that night.
Gou sat on Chigusa's bed awkwardly waiting while Chigusa gathered extra blankets and pillows from the hall closet, throwing them down at Gou's feet and declaring that when they were ready to go to sleep, she'd help her set up a makeshift bed.
When Gou didn't react much to this, Chigusa threw herself on the bed beside Gou, propping her chin up by her hands and stretching out on her stomach.
"Now, tell me."
Gou looked quizzically at her friend.
"You were in the middle of telling me about how you'd seen Mikoshiba that night of the party," everyone stopped denying that it 'wasn't a party'; even Rei. "So!"
Gou just stared at her friend before finally breaking out, for the second time that afternoon, into laughter.
"That's what this is about? You pulled me out of there, with everyone standing in that café, so you could hear the rest of the story?"
Hana pouts, unable to see the ridiculousness in the situation.
Gou shakes her head before bringing her knees up onto the mattress, turning to properly face Chigusa.
"My brother is furious with me. I abandoned my team for practice and I never even answered Mikoshiba, all because you couldn't wait to hear the end of my story?!"
"Your brother will text you if he has anything to say to you—besides, I think he was more angry at Mikoshiba than you. Your team can handle one practice without you, and as for Mikoshiba…I want to hear your answer and the story behind it before he gets to!"
There was no getting around this one, Gou realized.
Chigusa made the entire 'story' much grander sounding and dragged it out with question after question. Gou initially told Chigusa how Mikoshiba had been waiting at her house, to check that she was okay, after the party-that-wasn't-one-but-was, and after talking to her, they'd kissed. Chigusa initially got excited, thinking this to be Gou's first kiss. Gou didn't have the heart to correct her, but realized it didn't matter either way.
To her, the kiss with Kent was nothing she wanted or asked for. She didn't count it as anything except a violation on Kent's behalf.
Her first real, wanted kiss had been with Mikoshiba.
Chigusa had begged to know everything Gou and Mikoshiba had said and exchanged, which not even Gou could fully remember. Gou also didn't tell Chigusa that she had in fact kissed Mikoshiba three times, though eventually Chigusa got that out of her as well.
Though Gou left out how Mikoshiba kissed her. That much she kept to herself.
Then Chigusa wanted to hear what Kent had told her today. Gou gave a summary of Kent's apology, which Chigusa grimaced disapprovingly of, and then repeated her own speech and closing statements, which Chigusa nodded and agreed with throughout Gou's retelling.
By the time Gou finally summed up to the moment Chigusa herself had run in on, Chigusa's mother had returned from the store and had brought up snacks for the girls. Chigusa was still giddy with the news that Gou and Mikoshiba had kissed, mulling that over throughout snacking, that she didn't get to asking Gou until it was time for dinner about 'her answer'.
"My answer..?"
"Gou. Mikoshiba asked you to be his girlfriend. You're going to have to answer him. Probably tonight."
"Tonight?!"
Chigusa nodded.
"He'll text or call you, probably. I think he really should ask you in person, but maybe he can't wait."
Gou hardly touched the meal Mrs. Hanamura prepared, thinking heavily on whether her phone was suddenly going to buzz alive with a call from Mikoshiba. He wouldn't..?
Would he?
Even more so than Mikoshiba's call, Gou was anticipating Rin's.
Chigusa had told him to message her if he had anything to say to her, and in honesty she was hoping he would. Would he finally text her first now? (She'd received his message the day he came to pick her up, though late. She'd saved it in her inbox, but had no reason to message him back at the time seeing that she had been with him that night, anyway)
So after dinner, as the girls washed up and changed out of their school uniforms, Gou sat by her phone, weighing in her mind the possibility of who would message her first; Mikoshiba, or Rin?
She jumped when the door to the bathroom opened, mistaking it at first to be an alert on her phone.
"You alright?" Hana asked. Gou nodded, feeling very worn and defeated from the drain of waiting. The anticipation was terrible!
Rin had kept his mouth shut tight the entire jog back to Samezuka. He'd lagged at the back of the group, and only Nitori dared to run near him. The whole team had grown quiet, refusing to acknowledge what had just transpired between their teammate and captain and allegedly teammate's sister.
And all through the rest of practice, though it was cut short. Mikoshiba delegated a few swim drills and then took to practicing by himself; what with nationals exactly a week away.
Rin refused to look at his captain.
Between juggling what to confront his sister about and what alibi to give to the police should he become a suspect in the case of the missing Mikoshiba he planned to dispose of, he couldn't settle on any one thing for either.
So, when practice ended, he chose the only immediate action he thought he could take.
He confronted Mikoshiba.
Everyone had just about cleared from the locker room, save one or two stragglers, Nitori, Mikoshiba and himself. Rin was done holding back and approached his captain, who had taken his sweet time redressing as if expecting Rin to confront him here and now anyway.
"Mikoshiba. We need to talk."
Mikoshiba just smiled, which pissed Rin the fuck off, and now he knew for sure the senior had been expecting Rin.
"Alright. You want to do this here, or step outside?"
Rin didn't say anything, so Mikoshiba shrugged and led the two back into the gymnasium. No point causing a scene in front of the other members, even if it was only two or three of them (one of which being Nitori, who seemed to be more involved in everything than anyone had expected).
Nitori watched after the two, rightfully concerned.
Chigusa was playing some light music in the background, tapping her pencil along her homework. Gou had pulled out her own work from her school bag, but found she couldn't focus at all. She kept waiting for either Mikoshiba or Rin to text her. It was getting late; they had to be out of practice by now. Chigusa said they'd both call her…
"Have your answer?" Chigusa teased, causing Gou to flinch and return her attention to her homework.
Stupid Chigusa…
It was at that moment that Gou's phone buzzed.
Just once. A message.
Gou and Chigusa both flew to the phone, Gou reaching it first while Chigusa gripped Gou's shoulder, just as eager to see who and what had been sent.
It was Mikoshiba.
[Still up for that date Friday? Sorry bout this afternoon. Sure you're ok? ]
He'd mentioned this afternoon, but not about asking her to be his girlfriend.
Gou glanced at Chigusa who shrugged herself back to her homework, leaving Gou to respond on her own.
[Yes. It's alright. I'm fine}
She fears it's too curt and that he'll get the impression she doesn't want to talk to him, so she quickly follows up with,
[How was rest of practice?]
(She adds and erases a smiley face several times before deciding that one wouldn't be appropriate in this instance)
Mikoshiba takes a long time to respond, which worries Gou.
By the time she's finally finished all her homework, Mikoshiba still hasn't responded.
Chigusa yawns and Gou sets her phone aside. Together, they quickly set up a bed for Gou to sleep on before tucking themselves in. By the time Gou does return to her phone, Mikoshiba has responded.
[Talked to your brother]
Gou hurriedly replies,
[What'd he say?]
Mikoshiba doesn't respond, and Gou falls asleep still worrying, wondering what her brother had to say to Mikoshiba, yet didn't have to say to her.
Rin still never messaged or called her.
Thursday morning, Gou dresses for school at Chigusa's house (Her mother did laundry that night, washing their uniforms in time for school that morning) and the two walk to school together. Mikoshiba doesn't text Gou back, so she slips her phone into her bag and ignores it the entire day.
Even during swim practice, she refuses to glance at it, keeping her focus and attention on the boys and their times.
Gou slips away from the pool before any of the boys are finished changing, determined to walk home alone today. As much as she appreciated the escorts, she's almost certain Kent won't bother her today, or ever, and she'd like to be alone.
When she finally pulls her phone out, having reached her house for the first time since yesterday morning, Mikoshiba has texted her back, but only to say [sorry fell asleep].
Gou replies that's fine, but makes no mention of asking again what her brother and he discussed. His next text doesn't mention it either, and to Gou's disappointment she realizes that that conversation has been dropped.
It's just as Gou is about to go to bed that Mikoshiba finally mentions their date for tomorrow.
[I'll pick you up after school. No swim practice]
Gou wonders if she'd rather they waited; she could have gotten ready and changed out of her school uniform, but wonders if she might do that real quick after school before meeting him?
[Where are we going?]
[You'll see]
Gou forgets a change of clothes that morning, only remembering her plan half way through homeroom. Actually, she forgets completely about the date until then, which is odd considering she fell asleep thinking about what possibly Mikoshiba could have in store.
And it's just as well she forgot a change of clothes because distance must mean nothing to Mikoshiba; he's outside the school a minute after she's released from class.
He had to have skipped his own classes to have made it all the way here to meet her just as she got out of class, she decides. She makes a note to ask him if that's indeed what he did, but never does.
Mikoshiba is a handsome fellow, and tall, but Gou can't recall ever seeing him in his school uniform, and not in regular clothes or swim sweats.
Several students watch the duo, because some don't recognize the uniform and others just have never seen Mikoshiba around. More yet whisper and mutter, wondering since when did Matsuoka know someone that handsome? Who is Matsuoka with? He looks much older than Matsuoka—is he in college?
Mikoshiba doesn't notice any of this.
"Ready?"
She isn't sure; maybe if she had an idea as to where they were going.
Gou voices as much, but Mikoshiba just laughs. "It's a surprise!"
Her first thought is, it's another party-not-party.
The surprise ends up being Mikoshiba walking Gou in a direction she isn't familiar with and then blindfolding her with his hands when he declares they're almost there.
"Is this necessary? Couldn't I just close my eyes..?"
"Nope. I don't trust you," Mikoshiba laughs. He's stepping cautiously behind her steps, careful not to clip her heels, while directing and leading her with his hands and arms as well. Gou tries to walk quickly, thinking she doesn't want to slow them down with this newfound handicap, but Mikoshiba is careful to warn her or direct her away from any approaching obstacle and makes no mention that they're walking to slow.
Truth be told, he's just enjoying this inverted way of holding Gou, bouncing her shoulders between the barriers of his arms that wrap around her to allow his hands to cover her eyes.
He blushes at the thought, thankful that Gou can't see, well, anything.
Gou's new bag pounds at her hip and with each step, her Iwatobi charm jingles. Not knowing what to with her hands, Gou grips the strap of her bag, occasionally throwing a hand out to keep her balance as Mikoshiba has her step from a curb or suddenly turn.
Gou pouts, curious if they're nearly to their destination or not. She's about to ask as much when Mikoshiba stops her.
"We're here."
"…Can I look yet?"
Mikoshiba jumps, forgetting to have removed his hands (buying himself a moment longer to linger) before snapping them to his sides.
Gou opens her eyes and-
"A gym?!"
Mikoshiba nods, proud of himself.
"What…what is this date..?"
"Come inside!" Mikoshiba urges, tugging Gou inside after him.
Any doubt Gou has of as to why Mikoshiba brought her to a gym for their date dissipates when he drags her to a glass window overlooking a weight room.
Muscles.
Flawless pounds of perfectly built muscles. Quads, hamstrings, biceps and triceps; pectorals and deltoids. Abs.
Beautifully toned and bare muscles. Exposed muscles flexing and contracting as the athletes lifted weights and stretched. Outlines of muscles protruding from skin tight athletic wear. Upper body muscles, lower body muscles. It was a gathering of the most perfect specimens of muscles Gou had witnessed, next to the Regionals swim meet.
Gou beamed at the muscles, to which Mikoshiba proudly nodded.
"Pictures don't do the real thing justice."
That's right, Gou recalled. Mikoshiba was prescribed to the same muscles monthly magazine that she was.
He appreciated the beauty of muscles and fitness as much as she did!
"C'mon. I can't have you looking at other guys our entire date."
"Basketball?" Gou blinked, staring at the court Mikoshiba had led them to.
"I love swimming, but you have to switch it up occasionally," he explained, dribbling a ball he'd checked out from the front desk.
Gou shook her head, "I-I'm not dressed to play-"
"Relax. I'm in uniform, too. I'll go easy on you."
"No, you don't understand…Rin definitely got all the athletic genes of the family-"
Mikoshiba laughed, shaking his head and crouching into a starting position. He motioned for Gou to step forward, cover him, which she sulked into position to do so.
"I'm telling you, I'm not-"
Mikoshiba easily passed her, suddenly jolting alive and dribbling the ball quickly to the basket before turning in a layout.
Gou, left standing where she'd started, sighed.
"This won't be very fun for you, you know. It'll be that easy-"
Mikoshiba cuts her off with a kiss.
"Wh-wh-what was that?!"
"For every point I get, I get a kiss. I think I'll enjoy this game just fine," Mikoshiba counters.
Gou, despite herself, smiles, crouching to prepare herself to defend.
Gou's efforts are amiable. True to his word, Mikoshiba does go easy on her, taking only a step or two before planting himself, having to pivot to avoid her reaches for the ball. And his talent in swimming doesn't fully extend to basketball as well; he misses several of his farther shots.
That said, Gou only gets her hands on the ball a grand total of three times, and each shot that Mikoshiba stands to the side to allow her to take doesn't go through.
The final score is six to zero, though Mikoshiba stops collecting his kisses immediately after scoring after the second one, claiming to 'hold onto them' for a later time.
One of those 'later' moments happens to be the moment after he declares the game over, stealing a kiss before Gou can start to complain how it really was an unfair challenge on her behalf from the beginning.
After the defeat that is basketball, Mikoshiba leads Gou to the smoothie bar in the center of the recreational center. He sits opposite of her, refusing to let her pay for the smoothie herself, and spending more time watching Gou drink her smoothie than drinking his own.
When Gou comments on such, Mikoshiba dives at his smoothie, over exaggerating his face in trying to drink the smoothie in one sitting This causes Gou to break into laughter, and even more so when he's hit with a terrible brain freeze and begins cringing.
"What now?" Gou asks, content with her smoothie completed and leaning back in her chair.
Mikoshiba glances to the side, suddenly concerned. Gou tries to follow his eyes, but he quickly advises her not to.
"Don't look." He warns.
"What?" Gou asks.
"It's just, there's this guy over there-don't look."
Gou, tensing, leans closer as Mikoshiba motions her to do so, lowering his voice cautiously. Gou doesn't mean to, but her thoughts jump to Kent.
"He's been-" Mikoshiba tricks Gou, leaning forward and stealing his fourth kiss, which Gou laughs and leans further into.
From the food court, Mikoshiba leads Gou towards to pools.
"Don't tell me you wear your swim trunks under your clothes too!" Gou laughs.
"No. You know someone like that?"
Haru.
Mikoshiba leads Gou into the bleachers, sitting at the very top with the wall as their back rest.
"Do you ever come here?" Gou asks, referring to this pool and recreational center in general.
"Mm. I work here, during the breaks. The pool at Samezuka is great, but it's nice to swim in a new pool every once in a while. Sometimes I'll come here just to check out other swimmers; watch their technique, see how they train. There's some interesting regiments out there."
Gou nods slowly, amazed at Mikoshiba's dedication.
"Mikoshiba is a lot like Rin!"
"Eh? I wouldn't go that far…"
"Rin was really dedicated to swimming. He lived and breathed swimming!"
"Hey, now…I don't think I'm that obsessed!"
"There's nothing wrong with being passionate!" Gou smiles, "I think it's one of your best qualities, Mikoshiba-"
"Seijuro."
"Eh?" Gou suddenly blushes.
Mikoshiba smiles at her, "I call you Gou. You can call me Seijuro."
"But, Miko-"
"You called me it once, remember?" Mikoshiba points out.
Gou blushes, "Th-that..!" Was an accident? Was to get your attention? Gou bites her lip.
"S…Sei-Seiju... Seijuro!"
Mikoshiba stares at her for a full second before turning away, his face violently red with blush.
"Mikoshiba?"
"T-too cute…"
Gou giggles, "I should just stick with Mikoshiba-"
For the fifth time that afternoon, Mikoshiba catches Gou off guard with a kiss.
"That's five," he whispers when he does finally pull away from her, this kiss slower and softer than the others.
"Please call me Seijuro."
Gou nods slowly.
The two of them watch the pool slowly empty as swimmers begin to file towards the locker rooms to shower and change, or continue their workout elsewhere. When only a handful of athletes remain, Mikoshiba stands up, offering Gou and hand which she takes to stand.
"Gou."
"Mm?"
"I asked you, the other day…what's your answer?"
For a minute, Gou doesn't recall what he's talking about. Then, it hits her.
"O-oh!"
Mikoshiba blushes but keeps his eyes on her, determined to face her rejection head on.
"Th-that…"
Mikoshiba inhales, straightening his back and throwing his shoulders back to appear confident, "Gou Matsuoka. Will you be my girl-"
Gou cuts Mikoshiba off with a kiss, throwing her arms around his shoulders. Mikoshiba is quick to pick up on the action, bringing his arms around her back and lifting her into a spin. She smiles, he feels through the kiss, and after spinning as fast as he can, he sets her down again.
She deepens the kiss briefly just before releasing him, smiling up at him still in his arms, "that makes six."
"That better have been your answer."
"Yes."
He doesn't ask if she means yes, that's her answer, or yes, her answer was yes (It doesn't matter, that's one in the same). He leans forward, but Gou dodges, laughing, "That's seven!"
Mikoshiba shrugs, going in for the seventh kiss anyway.
A/N: Chigusa really has a larger role in this fic than she ever did in the series, and I'm both sorry and not sorry for it. I liked the idea that she just commands over all the gathered main characters haha
So the Rin and Mikoshiba confrontation will show up and you'll find uot what happened and what was said...just not this chapter. I was going to try to throw it in but it'd throw the pacing off and I like it where it is later so I left it~ It's not the prettiest of confrontations~
But, Yay for SeiGou! Again, still feeling squicky bout how quick their relationship is developing~ like, that's what...sevne kisses on the first date, then ya'll declare you're actually gonig out..? There's not too much left in this story, but for continuation/imagination purposes, pretend that the rest of their relationship, should it last through this story, was taken slow and steadily~ haha
This chapter feels like two; the first is Gou and Chigusa's sleepover, and had I split this into two chapters that would also have included Seijuro and Rin's confrontation, but it felt kinda slow and boring too...and the second being the date itself. I had no idea where their date was going until I tried to think, "What would make them both happy? Muscles?...a gym?" Haha and I chose basketball cause it's always swimming, so I wanted to branch it out for them~ except, after I typed this chapter I read somewhere about how Seijuro's other hobbies include I think it was tennis? And maybe some other sport but he seems like the kind of guy whose down to paly anything~ So, I thought why not basketball :p
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry if the date wasn't fluffy enough? Or OOCness...Anyway, not many chapters left~! (Like, three I think~)