My apologies for how long this chapter took, especially considering what happened last chapter. I've been job hunting a bit so all my motivation has been pretty much going to that (I still have my normal job so no worries there - I even got a raise! - but I am trying to find a better job and get out of this tiny, tiny town I have been stuck in for the last three years) and I had a horrible, horrible case of writers block with this chapter. I also upgraded to Windows 8.1 recently and have been experiencing a myriad of visual problems with it. They should be fixed by me putting a band aid on a gushing would but we'll see. It's windows for crying out loud.
For anyone who didn't know yet Free! also got approved for a second season!
Green, green. We are in a sea of green.
Against the glare of the sun Gou shielded her eyes. All around her it was green. Green, green, green. A bastion of green and brown. Rows upon rows of green for miles. It was quite an impressive sight. Wooden poles were staked into the ground next to them and running up and down each pole were vines upon vines. Vines of grapes. Vines of grapes waiting to be picked and turned into wine. A wine vineyard.
This was their designated trip for the day, the event the hosts of the country had planned for them. Gou had been a little surprised that such a country had such a thing as wine making but here it was. For the time being it was only sold in country but they were looking to expand their sales to other countries as well. It was no surprise the winery would be one of their events then. It was a good way for the host country to show them something interesting but also advertise their industry. They really are taking advantage of this economically just like Rei said.
She turned in a circle to take it all in. The height of the vines weren't that tall, coming up to a little above her waist. As such she could see over them and the many, many rows that continued on for a large distance. Around her roamed the members of the two swim teams. They were spread out but still close enough they could see each other and still hear the host slightly ahead of them. Close by her with the Iwatobi boys. For the most part they were being quiet and behaving themselves. Makoto, well, he was always dependable, and since there were no immediate vicinities of water around Haru wasn't performing any strip teases and seemed content to follow sedately behind Makoto without uttering a peep. Rei kept rattling off random facts about grapes and wine making that would likely put their host's knowledge to shame if she heard him. "Grape vine cultivation and winemaking dates back seven thousand years ago," he was saying. He leaned down to look at a cluster of young green grapes. "The oldest known winery was discovered in Armenia and dated back to 4100 BC." Before anyone could stop him he plucked one of the berries and began chewing.
"Rei!" Makoto looked around himself as if checking for cops, although it was likely he was rather looking if the host had seen them. "That's stealing!" he whispered.
"Bitter." Rei made a face. "And it's not stealing, it's sampling." He held up his index finger. "It's only proper to test the grapes before sampling the wine. If you don't find the source material impressive then why should the end product be?"
"I highly doubt the wine is going to taste anything like the grape you're eating plain," Gou grumbled. "How many wines have you tasted in the past anyway?"
"None," answered Rei. "But that is why it is imperative to be properly prepared!"
Haru seemed to take Rei's advice to heart. He plucked a grape and popped it into his mouth.
"Haru!" Makoto was beside himself.
"Bitter." Haru spat it out.
"Don't spit it out after you've stolen it!" Makoto's hands clutched the top of his head. "Pick it up! You're leaving behind evidence!"
"Too much effort."
"It's fine, Mako-chan," said Nagisa. "It will provide nutrients for the other plants so in a way Haru-chan is fertilizing! The winery should be thanking him. Right, Rei-chan?"
"Oh, uh, of course," said Rei completely unconvincingly.
Nagisa kicked at a leaf. Despite being the sort of person who normally always managed to find a way to entertain himself no matter the circumstances he seemed to be having a hard time now. A moment later he voiced why. "We need to get to the wine tasting already."
Oh yes, the wine tasting. That was the last thing they would be doing on their trip and partly the reason for Gou's bother. Announcing the tasting this morning…Gou could still remember the look on Amakata's face. "W-well." Sweat had already begun forming on the teacher's forehead and her smile was more pained than anything. "Let's just not make the same sort of mistakes twice, shall we?" She had laughed uncomfortably but no one had laughed with her.
"You can't get married twice," Rei had muttered under his breath, which earned him a slight ribbing from Nagisa and a disapproving look from Makoto. Goro had been grinding his teeth too.
Gou had become the delinquent of the group. The one who made bad decisions without thinking first and got herself in trouble. It's not like I make bad decisions all the time! She had just had one…little mishap. Yes, that was it. Well, catastrophic was more like it. She sighed heavily.
Speaking of which… She looked over the tops of the vines on their stakes. A few rows away Seijuro was with several of his swim team members. They were talking and looking about themselves, not paying any attention to her or the Iwatobi boys in the slightest. Since arriving to the winery Seijuro and her had kept to their own swim teams and had not so much as acknowledged each other's existence since departing the bus. Gou couldn't say it was unusual from normal. On the contrary it would have looked odd for them to be around each so much in these circumstances. Besides the events where they forced to be close together because they had gotten paired together it was best for them to stay apart and that's what they had been doing. Rin was not too far away in full view of them after all. It was wise for them to stay by their own swim teams and away from each other.
Not that that stopped Gou's mind from wandering. Last night. He had kissed her last night. Even now her brain was still having a hard time processing it. She remembered everything – oh how she remembered everything – but she was having a hard time believing it had actually happened. It had been so sudden, so unplanned. He had caught her completely and utterly by surprise.
What had his purpose been behind kissing her? Had he simply done it because he was sick of listening to her whine about not remembering her first kiss?
Lost in her thoughts her hand had subconsciously moved to touch her lips. Realizing it, she yanked the appendage quickly away. What the heck was that about? Thankfully the boys were too busy with each other to notice her reddening face.
"We're not here to get drunk, Nagisa." Makoto was saying. "We're here to learn about wineries and appreciate this…wonderful country." Those last few words sounded incredibly forced.
"Wineries make wine," said Nagisa as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He blinked guilelessly. "Do they do something else besides that?"
Makoto sighed. "You're missing the point."
"Wine making is an art, Nagisa!" Rei pushed his glasses further up with a flourish. "It is a skill dating back for centuries, a piece of mankind's cultural heritage. Back in old days it was considered a delicacy of the rich and a mark of a person's social status. If one did not have wine one was considered a bore…"
I wonder if he makes some of this stuff up, thought Gou as Rei prattled on. For all they knew he did. None of them knew enough to challenge his words and he delivered them with such acumen that it made them sound utterly believable.
"I want to try the wines as well," Haru voiced his opinion. Makoto sighed once more and seemed to give up on persuading them that they were there to actually learn rather than drink.
Lunatics. Those two drunkards should have been the ones to make the mistake of getting married while drunk, not her, the responsible one. Actually…it would have been pretty hilarious to see Nagisa and Haru accidentally married to each other. After a week Haru would have likely swam back to Japan to get a divorce, not to mention Makoto and Rei would have absolutely died at the news.
Maybe that's why they find my predicament so amusing. Because it wasn't happening to them. Jerks.
The host called out to them, indicating they were leaving the vineyards and going into the winery itself. It was a large brick building, the winery, and looked more like an old time European inn than anything else. And inside. Inside there were wine bottles. Wine bottles everywhere. Lined against the wall on shelves, in round display cases placed about the open floor, in tubs and in barrels and in everything. The light glinted off their curved glass surfaces like the blinking of a million wild animal eyes in firelight. Further down was a large square bar. Nagisa grabbed Rei's arm. He pointed to the bar. "That's where the wine tasting is going to be, Rei-chan!"
"Yes, yes, I see it." Rei placed his hand atop the shorter boy in an effort to stop his bouncing.
Nagisa wasn't the only one excited. The Samezuka members were chattering away in enthusiastic whispers as well and one of them even started gravitating towards the bar like it was pulling him in before someone else snagged him.
"I can't believe they're letting us drink for free!" one exclaimed.
The turning of Seijuro's head was slow but unmistakable. The glare he fixed on the one who had said that was not missed and the other flinched down as if caught sneaking candy before dinner. "I mean, good thing we're learning so much from this country!" His voice echoed off the stones walls. "The wisdom we have gained will surely help us reflect favorably once we have returned home!"
"Keep your voice down, Noro."
They're as bad as we are. Despite acting like a military unit the majority of the time the Samazuka swim team still had their share of quirky individuals apparently.
The host lead them down into the basement. "This is where they store the barrels of wine that are going through their second fermenting and are aging!" She gestured to the multitude of barrels that were stacked all in rows across the entire basement. "The aging will take anywhere from three to six months! In that time proteins from the grapes will be broken down and the remaining yeast cells and other fine particles are allowed to settle! The wine must be kept under airlock to protect the wine from oxidation! The oak from the barrels even influences the flavor of the wine!"
Gou felt a bit like she was back in chemistry class. She had never liked that subject and understood even less of what the host was saying. She doubted anyone really cared how it was made anyway, except maybe Rei. Everyone else was more interested in just drinking it.
Despite it being a basement it was quite bright and almost pleasant looking with tan stony walls and the brown of the barrels blending along with it. It was large too, nearly the same size as the floor above them. The rows of barrels divided up the room and the swim team members branched off down different rows.
Nagisa leaned in close to one of the barrels big enough he could have climbed on top of it like it were a pony. "Maybe we can find something to tap this with," he whispered.
"These haven't fermented yet!" Rei protested.
"They still have alcohol in them, don't they?"
"That's beside the point!" Rei paused. "How do you even know about tapping anyway?"
Nagisa gave him a smile that was way too innocent.
Honestly it wouldn't have surprised Gou if some of the Samezuka swim members were thinking along the same line as Nagisa further down the rows. In a minute or two a stream of wine may come leaching towards them or a wave if the boys tapped a little too hard.
"Has this one fermented yet, Rei-chan?"
"How should I know? I can't read that language!"
"None of these have fermented. That's why they're down here in the basement," pointed out Haru. Not that that stopped Nagisa from asking continuously if they had, like a kid on a car trip asking if they were there yet over and over.
"We're going to be doing the wine tasting soon anyway," Gou reminded them. "Just wait till then."
"Do you think they'll let us buy a barrel to bring back with us?" asked Nagisa.
"I doubt it," muttered Rei and Gou hoped that was true. If they were allowed to buy barrels then both of the buses would end up being full of nothing but barrels of wine.
They spread out after a bit and Gou wandered off down a row by herself so she could look at the barrels and their descriptions more closely without distraction. She was unable to read any sort of labels or names as they were in the local language but that didn't stop her from trying. Some of them had strange hand drawn signs on them that must indicate some sort of fruit or something. Christmas melon maybe?
A movement from the entrance of the row she stood in caught her attention and she looked up. She stiffened. Seijuro. He wasn't smiling as he came towards her. His face was a smooth plate, that expressionless captain visage. It was a sharp contrast to the huge goofy smile he had been greeting her with the past few days. Could it be that he was tense too?
He stopped a few feet from her. "Hey."
She returned the greeting in a tone that was a little too measured. "Hey."
She couldn't say that she was exactly nervous or embarrassed. It wasn't like it had been right after their accidental marriage. This feeling was different, something that was almost wary. She didn't know what to expect from him and that unpredictability made her tense.
But he didn't try anything. He didn't even come any closer to her. Instead he began talking. "I forgot to ask you before." He reached into his pocket. He withdrew his phone. The phone she had gotten him. A phone that she had told Makoto explicitly to make sure it was red. Red because it was the same color as his hair. Red because she couldn't imagine him having a phone any other color. He flipped it open. "I need the Iwatobi boys' numbers."
She blinked. "Huh?"
"The swim teams' numbers." He looked at her as if not understanding why she would be confused by that. "Rei and Nagisa and Nanase-kun. I have Tachibana's already. I got that when he gave me the phone."
"But why…why would you want theirs?"
"Just in case. If for whatever reason I can't get in touch with you I'll have them as a backup. In case of emergencies."
He was referring to the boat incident. That made sense. When he had been unable to establish any sort of contact with her he must have realized he had no one else to call to check up with. Before then it had likely never even crossed his mind to get the boys numbers when he could so easily just communicate via Gou. Giving him their numbers have never crossed her mind either. But it was a good idea to do.
"O-okay." She pulled out her own phone. "Let me know when you're ready."
He stepped closer to her in order to see her phone. She stiffened again, heart speeding up, but did not back away. "Alright, Haru's is…" She read out the numbers to him, pausing in between each one to make sure he got it down. "I'll give them your number when we get back," she said once he had finished punching them all in. "I mean so long as you're okay with that."
"Of course." He snapped the phone closed. "They should have my number as well."
"Even Nagisa?" Gou raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're okay with him having your number too?"
"Why? Does he plan to text Sei-chan to me all the time?"
She laughed a little. "He might. Hopefully he won't get you and Rei confused by that."
"I hope so too. I really don't want to receive the texts he's sending him."
She laughed again. She felt substantially more relaxed. He was keeping his distance and wasn't trying anything strange. "Well, I'll give them your number once we're out of here."
Those words sparked a thought. Why hadn't Seijuro waited until they were back at the house to ask her for the numbers? Or for that matter why hadn't he just asked the boys directly instead of coming to her? It wasn't like they weren't close enough now for it to be unusual for Seijuro to ask for such a thing. But instead he had come to her for it. How odd.
The host began calling out and at the entrance of the row they were on passed several swim members. Seijuro turned. "Sounds like it's time for the wine tasting."
Oh, boy. She grimaced. She wasn't looking forward to this.
They made their way upstairs. Several of the more exuberant swim members were already racing over to take a seat at the bar but the host intercepted them before they were able to reach it. "Now, now." Her smile was strained. "I know you're excited but to keep things more organized we are going to use the assigned seats we use on the bus! Please take your seats in an orderly fashion!"
That was like telling a two year old to eat their food without making a mess. Seating in their assigned places made it more chaotic then it would have been had the host let them sit freely. The unlucky boys whose assigned seats were typically in the middle of the bus were hopelessly confused as to which seat in the middle they should take along the bar. Not to mention because there were two buses the second bus swim members weren't sure where the second bus seating should start. There was quite a bit of shuffling and some bickering as the boys sat down only to have to get up again as others came over saying they were ahead of them.
And then…
Gou sat stiffly between the two boys on either side of her. Makoto was on her left. And Seijuro on her right. And across from her on the other side of the bar with a clear view of them, her brother. She closed her eyes. "I can't believe this keeps happening…"
"It'll be fine."
As usual Seijuro treated it like it wasn't a big deal. Gou fought the urge to kick him under the bar where no one could see.
The Samezuka captain reached for a small list of available wines that had been placed at the end of the bar. "What do you want to drink?"
Like she hadn't heard that from him before! Those oh so familiar words! She drew rigid like a cat that had been brought too close to water. "I don't want anything!"
"Shhh!" Both boys on either side of her hissed so unexpectedly she actually shrank down.
"Keep your voice down." Makoto's smile looked so strained and pained it would have been better if he looked upset instead. He kept himself facing forward so as not to draw anymore attention from Gou's brother than her exclamation already had. "Your brother's right there."
"I know he's right there!" Gou ground her teeth. Was that Seijuro's intention? To get her drunk and kiss her again? Or did he have something further on his mind? Gou's face heated at the thought. What if he…tried to touch her? Oh god. Was it hot in here? She suddenly felt way too hot. She fanned herself in an effort to cool down, pulse racing in her ears.
"It's a wine tasting anyway." Rei took off his glasses and cleaned them on his shirt. "The intent isn't to drink so much you get drunk. You're supposed to just take a sip, not drink the whole serving they give you."
"I'll drink the whole thing!" Nagisa banged his fist on the bar top like he were about to face off against a dangerous opponent. "I'll drink Gou-kun's for her too!"
"It's Kou!"
"Some people don't understand that of course," Rei continued as if no one had interrupted him.
Makoto observed the horde of teenage boys jostling and prodding each other around the bar as they waited for the wine to be served. "This seems like a really bad idea. Giving a bunch of free alcohol to teenagers."
"This country doesn't seem to have many good ideas." Seijuro replaced the wine list. He leaned back in his seat with his arms crossed behind his head. "Let the fun begin."
If the point of the wine tasting was not to get drunk it seemed quite a few of the swimmers had not gotten the memo. Rather than sipping at the portions they were given several of them slammed back the drinks like they were shots despite rather than glasses of wine. Nagisa and Haru had followed that crowd. As soon as the portions had been set down Nagisa consumed it in ten seconds flat and then instantly demanded more. Haru had been a little more controlled, steadily drinking the glasses rather than inhaling them. Makoto had had little luck deterring him and Nagisa had been a lost cause from the get go.
Once the wine tasting was done, outside the winery Gou watched the two drunk boys and their respective caretakers. Makoto was trying rather successfully to get Haru to sit down. Anytime he managed to get Haru to take a seat, as soon as his back was turned, the dark haired teen would instantly propel himself to his feet and proceed to wander off somewhere. And Nagisa. He kept trying to disrobe. He managed to get his shirt off, eliciting a string of protests from Rei, then he took off running and giggling into the wine vineyard, swinging his shirt over his head whilst proclaiming he wanted to become one with nature and encouraging the sober Rei to join him. Rei pursued him, yelling that public nudity was a criminal offense. Gou watched a bit bemusedly as he managed to tackle the smaller boy between the rows of grape vines, the two plummeting to the earth in a cascade of leaves.
"Oh, he managed to catch him." Next to her Seijuro stood. He was just as sober as she, although he was sipping on a wine glass as he observed the antics around him. Unlike others he had taken Rei's advice and only taken a sip of each portion that was served. Gou had only been able to try a little bit before Makoto had taken the wine away from her, proclaiming "That's enough of that." For himself Makoto had taken one sip, made a face, and then hadn't touched it again.
"There goes his pants," Gou observed of the flurry of activity presently going on in the vineyard. "He managed to get those off, huh?"
"I think Rei might have taken them off on purpose."
"O-oh."
Several of the Samezuka swimmers teetered about them on drunken wobbly legs. Some of them had fallen onto the ground, caught in a bad case of incoherent giggles. One poor guy that Gou recognized as Noro was being noisily sick off in a corner; his caretaker, the boy with dark hair and a youngish looking face, standing beside him and rubbing his back comfortingly. Speaking of sick. Nitori looked a little green around the gills where he sat dazedly on the ground. As Gou watched his cheeks bulged and he leaned over, joining Noro in his puking. Rin hovered above him. He was yelling at the boy for drinking too much but was still taking care of him regardless of his many protests. And the puke.
Seijuro held out the wine glass. "Want some?"
She took it from him without hesitation. Since initially sitting down at the bar she had relaxed considerably. He was obviously not trying to get her drunk and he hadn't tried anything weird. Besides one was supposed to enjoy a glass of wine when watching a show.
She took a sip of the wine. Then again…wasn't it weird sharing a glass with him? For some strange reason it wasn't bothering her as much as it should be. Well, I guess it isn't like we haven't swapped spit before. Gou choked on the wine on that sudden unbidden thought.
"Are you alright?"
She hacked horribly, avoiding his gaze. "Y-yes." Don't talk to me when I'm like this!
It took her a few minutes but she managed to regain her breath and calm down. It wasn't like it wasn't true anyway. Sharing a glass was nothing considering she had tasted his mouth last night. This time she choked on air. I really need to stop thinking about this.
"S-should we help them?" She gestured to their drunken comrades. Seijuro and her were supposed to be the ones in charge after all, and so far all they had done was stand around drinking and watching the others poor plight. Although their companions situation was entirely their own making.
Seijuro stretched an arm behind his head. "I suppose we should. What a mess." He moved forward and started shouting commands to his members, and Gou moved off herself to do the same.
She found Haru and Makoto around the corner of the winery. Makoto had somehow managed to get Haru to sit down and stay on an overturned bucket. Even still he was fidgety and twitchy like an over reactive toddler forced to sit in time out. Of Rei and Nagisa there was no sign.
"Where's Rei and Nagisa?"
To Gou's surprise Makoto actually started to turn a little red. "T-they're in the vineyard."
"Still? They've been in there for a while." She turned to look. "I don't see them."
"That's because they're…lying down."
"O-oh." Well, then. She certainly didn't want to walk in on them doing…whatever it was they were presently doing out there. What to do? She raised her voice and called out. "Has anyone seen Rei and Nagisa?!"
Haru twitched on his bucket. "They're in the vineyard," he supplied helpfully.
Makoto gently shushed him.
From the vineyard a hand suddenly shot upwards. "H-here, Gou-san!" Rei's voice.
The two joined them a few moments later. Fully clothed thankfully, although rumpled and covered in leaves. Nagisa was beaming like a sloppy ball of sunshiny joy. Rei on the other hand was red and seemed to have trouble meeting anyone's gaze. "S-sorry. We were…" He searched the area around them as if seeking an answer. "Eating grapes."
Eating grapes. Yeah right. If they had been devouring anything out there it would be each other.
Nagisa clung to Rei's arm with a happy drooling expression. Rei looked happy but at the same time like he wanted to die.
What had they been up to out there, Gou couldn't help but wonder. Kissing? Had they even had their first kiss? By the looks on their faces they had and after experiencing her own Gou was genuinely curious what sort of circumstances it had come about. Had it been calm and collected, a calculated move that shone of Rei's intelligence? A simple smooth acceptance of something they had known would occur eventually and was inevitable? Or had it been frantic and charged with energy like Nagisa? Something that was full of need and want that had been boiling for so long until it finally ran over the edges, becoming too much for either of them to contain?
Maybe a bit of both.
Her gaze wandered over to Makoto and Haru. Had they kissed yet? She didn't think that they had. It was funny really. The two that had known each other for so long but it was Rei and Nagisa, who had known each other for such a significantly less amount of time that had taken that step forward instead. If Haru and Makoto's time frame of knowing each other was a book then Rei and Nagisa's would be a sentence in comparison.
But maybe that's what it made it easier for them. They had less to ruin if it didn't work out. In the case of Haru and Makoto maybe they were so reluctant to take that next step because they were too terrified of ruining what they did have with each other. Or maybe they were just idiots.
I can't believe I'm thinking this much about boys kissing. She shook her head.
"Let's get back to the buses. I think we're finally leaving."
Makoto took a deep breath. "Good." He reached for Haru, who twitched away from his hand. "Let's go, Haru."
"I want to swim," Haru declared in a voice that was much too loud.
"Yes, yes, I'll run you a bath when we get back to the house."
That seemed to appease Haru somewhat. He allowed himself to be lead away. Behind them followed Nagisa and Rei. Nagisa was still clinging to Rei's arms and Rei was doing his best impression of a tomato. Gou followed behind them.
A sentence built between them. That was it. Only a sentence. But that doesn't make it any less significant.
Seijuro watched the bowed back at the kitchen table out of the corner of his eye. It was hurting his eyes but if he turned to look completely he felt like she would feel his gaze and be creeped out by it. So instead he kept himself to glances. Many, many glances out of the corner of his eye. That sounds even creepier. He closed his eyes, something akin to annoyance and frustration flickering at himself.
She had returned to the house from Iwatobi maybe about an hour ago. And shortly after returning she had collected a stack of swimming books, the ones Seijuro had been using with Rei no less, and gone off to the kitchen table by herself. Since then she had been in there hovering over the books and occasionally jotting something down in her notebook. What she was studying Seijuro had no clue. Whatever she was doing, she was completely engrossed in it and ignoring him completely. And the worst part of all was that Seijuro noticed. It was making him feel like a puppy that desperately wanted its owner attention.
But maybe there was more to it than just wanting attention. An affirmation that everything was okay.
The corner of his mouth twitched. Since this morning he had been wondering if he had been too aggressive, if he had taken too far a step forward too quickly when he had kissed her. Did he regret it? No, he didn't. But he did feel like it might be best to back off and take it slow.
While Gou wasn't avoiding him there also hadn't been any strong indications from her either that she was interested in pursuing anything, whether that be physically or emotionally. He had been pushing his luck by kissing her, initiating something completely by surprise. He knew that but the opportunity had come up, albeit in a strange way, and he had been unable to help himself. Kissing her had been pure self-indulgence on his part. It was his nature to go after things he wanted. So he had gone for it. He's always been a bit selfish.
But now what am I supposed to do? He didn't know what signs to look for that would indicate she would be receptive to him initiating anything else honestly. Seijuro was perfectly okay with initiating – absolutely – but he didn't want to push too hard either. If he did she would back off again and Seijuro would only shoot himself in his own foot once more.
Was the fact that she wasn't treating him like some demon infested alien with the plague after he had kissed her a good sign? Or was she just being polite? Maybe the fact she hadn't slapped him after he had kissed her was a favorable indication?
Seijuro sank into the couch. Maybe I really am bad just bad with girls.
From the kitchen Gou let out a curse and Seijuro's gaze flickered back over to her. "Something wrong?"
Her head jerked up at his voice. Had she forgotten he was there? She looked over her shoulder at him. "It's these books." She held one of them up. "I can't find the information I'm looking for in any of them. They're all so…so technical."
He couldn't help but smile a little. They were Rei's books after all. He doubted the guy owned anything that was easy to read. He rose from the couch and approached her. "What are you trying to find?"
"An exercise regime."
"An exercise regime?" He peered over her shoulder at the book she was currently looking at.
She nodded. "We have limited access to the pool so I'm trying to find other ways that we can improve. All this downtime is likely to have some sort of negative impact. I want to try and make up for that in whatever way possible."
Truthfully Seijuro was a little impressed. Even he hadn't thought of something like that. Gou certainly took her position as manager of the swim team seriously despite them being such a small club with no accomplishments.
She made a valid point too. Regardless if Seijuro made as much use out of the pool time they were allotted it wouldn't change the fact they were hardly getting any swimming time in presently. Supposedly that would change as they got closer to the competition and they would be given more pool time, but finding other ways to improve presently was smart. There was the ocean but he wasn't about to suggest that. Not after what had happened. Even he was reluctant to use the ocean as a means to train.
"What did you have in mind?"
She leaned back in her chair, arms hanging limply by her sides. "Anything so long as it doesn't require a lot of equipment. We can't afford something like that. Unfortunately none of these books really give good strategies on how to improve on dryland. There's no sort of training like that in them at all."
"Training huh…" His eyes narrowed. Train…train. What could they do to train? Maybe some sort of training camp…
His eyes widened at the thought. A training camp! What a perfect idea! How fun would that be! It would be just like summer camp!
Gou observed his wide smile. "You just thought of something, didn't you?"
His smile only widened further and when he looked down at her the expression she wore was a strange one. She shifted in her seat, as if unsure how to place her legs.
"Yeah." His smile turned into a grin. "I did."
And then rocks fell and everyone died.
Okay not really but I am running out of base material I had planned for this fic and we still have a lot of time to go so updates may be a little slower as I figure out what else I want to do to fill in the time (3 months was a horrible idea).
Responses to some things:
sgt. karenbear - Was 12 chapters not enough of a buildup haha. But in all seriousness I understand what you mean. I was torn myself with the lead up to the kiss scene but I had always intended for it to be rather sudden so I decided to go ahead with it rather than try and scramble for more filler. In terms of Seijuro's personality I think part of might come down to interpretation. Seijuro can be a real pain in that we see so little of him in the anime and know even less about his back ground so in this fic a lot of it is just my interpretation of him. Seijuro does seem to swing between a very mature adult (he's the leader of an amazing swim team and he seems to do well at it) and a guy who is very happy go friendly depending on the circumstances (like when he's greeting Gou at the first swim competition). He can be very firm, almost cruel even, when he needs to be, like the time when he kicks Rin off the relay and flat out tells him he isn't in the right condition for it - and I really hoped you watched the entire anime cause otherwise I am so sorry for the spoilers. But then you have others, like Nagisa, who describe him as being energetic and enthusiastic. So I'm trying to base him around that, where he can be really serious when the situation calls for it but at the same time a guy who can be a bit of a dweeb, especially around the girl he has feelings for. Also if we are referring to when Seijuro gets back on the bus from the hot springs then that did take place several days after the lighthouse scene as well - I think that's what we're referring to anyway, ah jeez.
JustJolola - Sun and wind smells like sweat and sea salt. Gou has really weird taste. (Just kidding, I'd say it's like an earthy smell)