I was going to add more to this but I decided I really liked the part this ended at so I left it as is. Consequently it's a bit shorter than last chapters.

As a lovely reader pointed out to me, I totally forgot to mention this fic is based pretty solely on the anime. I have read the drama CDs but I only have read them once and don't have as easy access to them as the anime so I won't be incorporating them into this fic. I haven't read High Speed either, I think I saw a translation of it floating around tumblr a few weeks ago but I lost the link. If anyone has it please feel free to share!

The safest road to hell, Amakata had told her once, is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts. She had been quoting some author or other but Gou couldn't remember anymore. Back then she hadn't understand what the quote meant – they had been talking about tests or being late to appointments or seagulls or something at the time when Amakata had rattled off that quote – but now she felt like she understood it just a little bit better.

"I can't live with Mikoshiba!" Gou's eyes are wide as dinner plates. She runs her hands shakily through her hair. "I-I can't. He's a grown man!"

"Actually he's not considered a fully fledged adult yet," Rei corrected. "He's still in high school."

"I don't care!" Gou's shrill voice echoed off the walls. "I can't live with him! He's a boy!"

From the other room she could hear the door opening. Her loud tone had likely attracted the attention of the other three boys. Faintly she could hear their curious voices.

"A girl and a boy can't live alone together!" she continued. "Unsupervised! That's…that's just wrong!"

Rei sighed loudly, tolerantly, as if he were dealing with a child throwing a temper tantrum. And in his mind maybe he was. For someone who was as methodical as he was following the law was standard procedure. For Gou to be acting like this was illogical to him. "It's the law, Gou-chan. You don't have much of a say in the matter."

"It's a stupid law!"

"Stupid or not it doesn't make it any less illegal when you're breaking it. The authorities aren't going to not punish you simply because you felt it was stupid."

Gou covered her head with her arms. She let out a suppressed scream that sounded like a tea kettle that was ready. "I can't live with him!"

She hardly noticed the three boys come into the doorway. Nagisa asked, "What's wrong, Gou-chan?"

Rei wasted no time in telling them. "She has to live with Captain Mikoshiba."

"Huh?!" Gou couldn't tell if it had been Nagisa or Makoto who said that, although it was Makoto who followed it with, "Why would Gou have to live with Mikoshiba?"

"It's the law here." Rei held out the law book to them. With a questioning look Makoto took it. He read over the highlighted passage, his lips moving as he read. Nagisa leaned over to look as well and even Haru was stretching himself up to try and read over Makoto's shoulder.

After a few seconds Nagisa leaned away. "What's it say, Rei-chan?"

Rei adjusted his glasses, annoyance touching his features. "It means that a man and a woman who are married must live together. It is illegal for them not to. If you are married you must live together, no exceptions."

"So?"

"So," Rei's voice was heavy with frustration, "Gou and Mikoshiba are currently married. Therefore they must live together."

Nagisa made a 'wah!" sound and turned to stare at Gou. Even stoic Haru looked shocked.

"A-a man and woman of any age?" Makoto's face was turning that weird shade of again.

"Age is trivial in this matter. If your marriage is legal and binding then you must reside in the same residence."

"S-surely that can't apply to Gou." Makoto swallowed. " Or Mikoshiba. Neither one of them are citizens of this country."

"They got married here, therefore the law still applies. I've already looked upon that myself, I can assure you."

"Ohhh, no," said Nagisa. "Gou-chan has to live with Captain Mikoshiba."

Gou fisted her hands. "No, I don't! I'm not living with him!"

"You have to," said Rei.

"I don't have to!"

"You do." He stood and smoothed down his clothes. "What you and Mikoshiba are currently doing is illegal. If you continue to live as you do, in separate residences, you could go to jail or…" He stopped and swallowed painfully. His next words came out strained. "We could get…disqualified from the program."

The sounds of shock and terror from the boys nearly made Gou's heart skip a beat. "That can't happen!" Tears were already welling in Nagisa's eyes, even though it hadn't even happened yet. "We can't get booted from the program! That can't happen! If we get booted we won't be able to swim!"

Gou's mouth dropped. "T-that's what you're concerned about?!"

But nobody seemed to be listening to her. "The pools." Haru's eyes were flat, like he had died inside. "The biggest pool in the world. I…" He swooned, as if his knees had given out. He barely managed to limp to Nagisa's bed to sit down heavily on it, his hand spread across his chest. "There were so many I wanted to swim in."

Gou aimed a hot glare at him but even Makoto wasn't taking it well. His face was still that sickly shade of blue. Sweat was starting to bead on his face.

"Yes," said Rei, his voice subdued, like he had just given the worst news in the world. "That is the situation I'm afraid."

Haru sounded like he was about to start hyperventilating.

"Gou-chan!" Nagisa nearly fell to his knees before her, his hands clasped pleadingly. "You have to live with Captain Mikoshiba! If you don't we'll be booted from the program!"

"Are you serious?! He's a boy! I'm not living with a boy!"

"You're living with Coach Sasabe right now," said Nagisa, wiping a trail of dribbling snot onto the back of his hand.

"That's completely different! He's your coach! Mikoshiba is a teenage boy!"

"But you're married to him!"

Gou's face reddened. Did he really have to say that? The marriage had been a mistake and she was willing to deal with that, but living with Mikoshiba? That was too far.

Haru rocketed to his feet so suddenly that everyone flinched away from him. Like a robot he marched over to Gou, his eyes hidden by his hair. He held up his arm stiffly. One of the Iwatobi wooden figurines he'd made dangled from his hand. "If you live with Mikoshiba I'll give this to you."

"I-I don't want that!" Gou backed away the dangling wooden figure. She had so many of them already. "Why do you have one of those with you anyway?"

Haru's entire face sagged, seemingly unable to fathom how his plan hadn't been successful. He stumbled back to the bed.

Nagisa was sobbing now. "I wanted to swim with everyone! I wanted to swim with everyone! Now we won't be able to!"

Rei bent down to try and comfort the sobbing blond. "Be strong, Nagisa-kun!"

Gou raised her eyes to the ceiling. This was really pathetic. "You guys are acting like somebody died!"

"I feel like I've died!" Nagisa proclaimed.

Then Makoto spoke up, "I-It wouldn't be so bad." Gou looked at him. He rubbed the back of his head, avoiding her eyes. "I-I mean, living with Mikoshiba. It…It couldn't be so bad, r-right?"

Gou couldn't believe it. Makoto too? Of all people?!

He must not have noticed her expression because he kept talking. "I mean it isn't that far from where we are. And you can spend most of your time here. You would just have to go back there to sleep and Mikoshiba, he's a nice guy, it wouldn't be so bad. I mean you guys got along great before all of this happened-"

With a noise of disgust she stomped her way out of the room. She was done. Completely done. None of them seemed to care about her feelings at all when it came to this.

She could hear them talking from inside Rei and Nagisa's room, Makoto saying something about going after her and for the others to stay there. A few seconds later the sounds of his footsteps approached. "Gou-chan, wait! Can we talk about this please?!"

"Why?" she demanded over her shoulder. She was nearly to the door by now. "You guys don't care about what I feel at all!" She knew that wasn't true but she was too caught up in her anger right now. "All you care about is if you get kicked out of the program or not!"

It sounded like Makoto had stopped. His next words came soft and inquisitive rather than frantic. "Don't you?"

Gou made to respond that no, she didn't when it came to this, but something crossed her mind and she froze with her hand halfway to the door handle.

Her brother. Her brother and the words she had said to Makoto right after she had asked to join the swim team. "You're the only ones who can change my brother."

Rin. The reason why she had joined the swim team. To bring back the person he used to be. The person she missed the most. If the swim team was disqualified from the program then they - Haru and the others – they wouldn't have the chance to bring her brother back. If they were disqualified nothing would change. They would remain as they were now. Rin would remain as he was now.

Gout closed her eyes. I don't want that.

Makoto, having received no respond, sighed from behind her. "I'll let the others know." He turned to leave.

"W-wait." She could feel Makoto turning back to her. "I-I'll do it."

"Do it?"

"I'll…I'll go stay with Mikoshiba." She dropped her hand back to her side. "Please…please let the others know we won't be disqualified from the program."

She could literally feel his happiness spike against her back. "Ah, that's great, Gou-chan!" He likely hadn't been thinking before he said that as he quickly followed it with, "I mean, a-are you sure?"

She took a deep breath. "Yes." All for my brother. "I'm sure." For him.

She narrowed her eyes. He better freaking appreciate this.

It was dark by the time Gou set out for Mikoshiba's place. Makoto was the only one who went with her. He helped carry her packs and made sure she didn't walk alone. Gou was glad that he was the only to come with her. She had insisted on it really. She hadn't really wanted to listen to the chatter of the others and they seemed to understand that.

Telling the adults had not been easy. Amakata, poor sweet Amakata, had even tried coming with her but Makoto had told her it was highly unlikely Mikoshiba would have an extra room for her on top of the room Gou would need. The teacher had even offered to sleep on the floor but Gou had told her it was alright. Just the offer by Amakata made Gou feel appreciative. She wasn't about to force the older woman to sleep on the floor.

Goro had barely spoken at all. The stormy look in his face and eyes had said more than enough about his disapproval of the situation.

The walk to Mikoshiba's was mostly quiet. Makoto carried the majority of Gou's bags and Gou trailed behind him. Makoto tried his best to cheer her up, telling her that she could come stay at the Iwantobi lodge as often as she liked. "At least you'll have your own bedroom now," he chuckled but she didn't even crack a smile and he soon quieted.

When they reached the path leading to Mikoshiba's place, Makoto stopped and said he would go talk to Mikoshiba first, to explain the situation before Gou came up. Gou was grateful for that. It would make things a little less uncomfortable for her if Mikoshiba knew what was going on before seeing her. Otherwise he might think she was some sort of crazy stalker or something.

She waited on the low wall that ran along the property as Makoto headed to the door. Unlike the lodges where the Iwatobi team stayed, Mikoshiba's place was more like a cottage with an enclosed yard and stone path. It lacked the porch and the view wasn't as nice, but it had more privacy. That would be nice. She could hide from her brother better if he happened to come by.

She watched as Makoto knocked on the door and a few moments later Mikoshiba answered. The two exchanged a few words and then Mikoshiba held the door open for Makoto come in. Into the house Makoto disappeared and Gou turned back around to the darkened street.

She wondered what the two were saying to each other. Would Mikoshiba be upset about the situation? Would he try and fight it? Maybe he would flat out refuse to do it. What would she do then?

Get arrested. She ran her hands over her face. Despite how awkward it was going to be living with a guy her own age she barely knew going to jail did sound a lot worse. She hoped he wouldn't be too resisting to her having to live with him. She disliked the situation already and having to stay there when he very obviously didn't want her there was only going to make it that much worse. It's going to be so uncomfortable and awkward. What if he acts resentful because I'm invading his space when he doesn't want me around?

She heard the door open and she looked up, expecting to see Makoto. It wasn't Makoto. Instead several swimmers from Samezuka came out the door. Her eyes widened. Oh god. She was sitting in plain view. If they saw her here not only would she never hear the end of it but if they told her brother…

Quickly she looked about herself, searching for something to hide under or behind. There wasn't much in the vicinity. Just some rose bushes directly behind the wall she currently sat on.

She stiffened as she heard them finishing their good-bye. They were walking down the steps. Any second they would see her sitting there.

Without a second thought, Gou flung herself into the rose bushes.

"You really did a number on yourself, didn't you?" It was the sternest tone Gou had ever heard Makoto use. Actually Gou couldn't think of a time Makoto had ever spoken sternly. It had to be the same tone he used on his brother and sister when they had done something stupid and he was scolding them for it. "Now your legs are all scratched up. I told you to wear pants!"

"How was I to know this was going to happen?" Gou protested and then, "Ow," as he touched the hydrogen peroxide soaked cotton ball to her scratched up legs.

"Speaking of that," he said a little crossly, "was it absolutely necessary for you to throw yourself into those rose bushes like that?"

Gou shrank down a little. "I didn't want them to see me."

"I'm sure there was a better alternative then throwing yourself into a bunch of thorns! Your luggage was still there after all, I'm sure they saw that." He sighed in aggrieve. "Now they're going to think it's mine and it's covered in flowers. What are they going to think of me?"

They probably think that already because of the way you hang all over Haru, thought Gou and then another "Ow!" as Makoto pulled out a thorn. Okay, maybe that had been karma.

Mikoshiba entered through the front door. One of Gou's packs was on his shoulder and he lowered it to the floor amongst the rest of her luggage. "I think that's the last of them." He looked over at Makoto hovering over Gou's legs. "You really scratched yourself up there."

Gou rolled her eyes to the ceiling. Great now they were both making comments about it. As if it wasn't embarrassing enough already.

"You don't happen to have any bandages, do you?" asked Makoto. "I don't want these to get infected." Gou made to protest - they were only scratches - but Makoto was having none of it. "These need to be treated properly," he insisted. "If we don't clean the dirt out of them and take proper care of them an infection could develop and we're in a foreign country. That's the last place you want to get an infection. They must be cleaned properly."

Gou settled back against the couch she lay on, effectively chastened. Makoto was in full blown big brother mood. It was actually kind of nice, even though it made her feel like a child.

Mikoshiba brought the bandages and for the next fifteen minutes Makoto meticulously cleaned out every single one of Gou's scratches and placed a bandage over them. Gou was amazed he didn't use up the whole package with how many he put on there.

When he was finally finished administrating first aid, he leaned back into the couch cushions. "Well, that's finally done. Wear pants for the next few days. If Ama-chan sees those she's going to kill me. Or she's going to think you got in a fight with a mountain lion. Either way she won't be very happy about it."

Gou laughed a little. She swung her legs down to the floor, testing if putting her weight on them hurt at all. They still ached but that was simply due to the newness of the wounds.

Makoto looked at his phone. "It's getting late," he said. "Do you feel comfortable here enough for me to leave? If you don't I'll stay longer."

Gou glanced at the hall entryway. Mikoshiba was in the bedroom doing something. Since entering the house she hadn't seen him much. He had been in and out retrieving her luggage and then he had disappeared into the bedroom. "It's fine. You can go."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. Mikoshiba wasn't the type to try anything strange she knew and she would have felt uncomfortable regardless of who the male was she was about to start living with.

That didn't stop Makoto from telling her to call him immediately if anything odd happened as she walked with him to the front door. "Don't hesitate to call if you feel uncomfortable at all," he said while in the open doorway. "Or if you need anything. Anything at all. Are you listening, Gou-chan? I'll have my phone on me at all times. Anything at all, you can call, understand? Don't hesitate to do so."

"Yes, yes, I get it. I'll call if I need anything. You don't need to worry so much."

He frowned. "Well I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. I mean anymore than you already do. I know you're doing this for us so…"

That wasn't entirely true but she didn't correct him.

"Are you sure you're fine?" he asked her for the umpteenth time. "I could stay longer."

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Seriously. Stop worrying so much." She rolled her eyes then smiled softly. "You know," she said after a moment, "you're a really good brother, Makoto."

Makoto blinked in surprise. Then a hint of red crossed his cheeks and he looked away in embarrassment. "I've…I've just had a lot of practice, that's all. Ren and Ran, they can be quite the handful sometimes."

Gou smiled again though it quickly faded. She lowered her eyes. I wish my brother could be more like that.

She didn't say it aloud but after having been around Haru for so long Makoto was a bit of an expert when it came to reading faces. He placed a hand gently on top of her head. "I'm sure Rin is a terrific older brother. He'll come around one day, you'll see."

Gou nodded. She hoped that was true.

With a wave Makoto finally departed. Gou watched him go down the steps then gently shut the door. Now she was alone. Alone in the house with the man she was expected to live with for the next three months. Gou closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Okay…

Mikoshiba didn't have any roommates. As the captain of a swimming powerhouse he was privy to some perks and that was one of them. He got to have his own place and didn't have to share with anyone. Well, until now that is.

It was certainly nice not having anyone else that Gou had to explain the situation to, but…having a place to himself. That meant there was only one bedroom. Only one bedroom in the place. Only one bedroom with one bed.

Gou's stomach had plummeted at first by the news but then she had remembered the couch she had laid on while Makoto had spent so long cleaning her cuts.

If that's what I have to do then. There was no way she was going to share a bed with Mikoshiba. Absolutely not. She'd sleep on the couch and be happy about it. She wasn't sure what Mikoshiba thought or wanted, but she wasn't about to ask him. Most guys wouldn't mind a girl sleeping in their bed even if they weren't looking for sex and Mikoshiba was likely no different. It was a conversation she'd rather not have.

Gou got ready for bed right away. Makoto and she hadn't left the Iwatobi lodge until late to begin with and after the medical attention he had paid to her legs it was definitely past bedtime. Luckily for her the bathroom was in the hall and not off the bedroom so she could slip in there without disturbing the Samezuka captain. She was pleasantly surprised to find the bathroom clean and tidy. Very much unlike the bathroom she had shared with Rin when they had been children. That had been a disaster. Rin had typically thrown his towel on the floor and left it there, among other unpleasant things like his dirty underwear on occasion. Gou could still recall the shrieks of dismay she had made when he did that.

Everything on the counter was placed in a neat little row and there was an ample supply of toilet paper. The seat was even down, miracle of all miracles. Gou could only assume Mikoshiba must have grown up with a lot of girls. He had been conditioned to put the seat down even when he lived by himself.

Once she was done changing and brushing her teeth, she took her things back with her to her bags. She felt too weird to leave her stuff in the bathroom among his things. Mikoshiba might see it as her intruding or something. Which she already was but she didn't want to make it worse. She didn't want to start taking over his space without his consent first.

There were some blankets on the couch and she rearranged them to create a make shift bed for herself that wasn't half bad. It wasn't a very big couch but there was enough room for her to stretch out.

Mikoshiba appeared only moments after she had gotten herself situated. He paused at seeing her, as if not expecting her to be there. "What are you doing?"

"Uhhh." Gou thought that was rather obvious. "Going to sleep?"

He tilted his head slightly. "You can use the bed."

She stiffened. She didn't respond but he must have recognized her expression for he followed it with, "I'll sleep on the couch."

Now that gave her pause. "A-Are you sure? I don't want to kick you out of your own bed. I mean it is your house, I should be the one to use the couch."

"Its fine, I insist." He turned to go down the hall without waiting for her response. "Come on."

The bed did look a lot more comfortable than the couch. The last time she had been here, a memory she preferred not to recall right at this moment, she hadn't paid much attention to the bed at all, too busy trying to escape unnoticed. Mikoshiba was lucky. His bed was a queen, much bigger than the tiny bed she had been using at the Iwatobi lodge, with three plump pillows. It even had new sheets on it by the look of it. That must have been what Mikoshiba had been doing while Makoto had been treating Gou's cuts.

"A-are you sure about this?" Gou felt rather guilty taking over his bed, especially when it was so nice. She was already intruding on his space, even though that wasn't entirely her fault, she hadn't married herself. "I mean I can sleep on the couch, it's really okay."

"Don't worry, its fine, really. I don't mind sleeping on the couch. I'm not going to make you sleep there." He turned and gestured to one of the bureaus. "There's a few empty drawers for you. I imagine you'll want to wait to unpack your stuff until tomorrow. It's late." He stifled a yawn to emphasize his point.

He was giving her drawers now? Giving up his space willingly for her sake? Gou almost couldn't believe it. "Are…are you sure?"

He gave her a look as if he couldn't understand why she kept asking that. "About unpacking? Of course. You're going to be staying here now, right? That's what Tachibana-san made it sound like anyway."

"Uh, yes." Due to the law, she wanted to add but decided against it.

"I'm not going to make you keep your stuff packed up in suitcases for the next three months. That'd be terrible." He motioned to the side where there lay an opening to a closet. "Closet space may be an issue though, it's not very big, but we'll figure it out tomorrow. I'm exhausted." She wondered if she had anything to do with that – maybe her luggage had been too heavy for him to handle by himself or maybe he was stressed out about the marriage and didn't want to tell her or maybe – but before she could say anything he turned and headed back to the living room with a slight wave. "Have a good night. Let me know if you need anything."

"A-ah, yes, thank you. Good night."

Well…maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she had initially thought. She definitely felt less wretched than on the walk over here. Mikoshiba was being very accommodating. More than accommodating…He was being quite nice considering the circumstances. He wasn't making her feel unwelcome at all.

From down the hall the living room light went out. Already he was going to sleep. On the couch.

Should I feel bad? Why do I feel bad? Should I feel bad?

She shook her head. Even if she did feel bad she got the impression Mikoshiba wouldn't budge on the issue. And she wasn't about to invite him to sleep in the bed with her. No, sir.

He had placed new sheets down for her. She could tell by how they felt cool and nice against her bare skin. She enjoyed and appreciated that but still. She wouldn't have minded if he hadn't changed them either. Falling asleep to his scent wouldn't have been half bad. Gou froze in shock. What the heck was that thought? Surely she hadn't thought something like that?

I'm just...tired. Yes, that's it. Tired.

She closed her eyes, recalling this wasn't the first time she had fallen asleep in this bed, except last time she hadn't fallen asleep alone, and then tried desperately to put such thoughts out of her head.