I am finally all moved now! And am a relatively stationary place (even though I ain't got no j-o-b yet) so updates should hopefully come faster!

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed, and for everyone's patience and understanding considering how long it takes for me to update sometimes!

Hana had told Gou the festival was centered around squid, but Gou had never anticipated the sheer amount of squid dishes the festival would contain. Squid burgers, squid paella, fried squid, squid with chips, ginger squid, stuffed squid, squid salad, squid on a stick. Everywhere she looked there were stalls filled with squid dishes. And candy apples in the mix. Oddly.

"Where's Mikoshiba-san?" asked Hana once they had taken a few moments to take in the sights. "He's meeting us here, right?"

Gou flipped her phone open to see the message from Seijuro. "He hasn't arrived yet. They're running late."

Inevitably no matter what Samezuka was doing if it somehow involved an Iwatobi member they would be late somehow. According to Seijuro some of their swim members had forgotten about festival and had been late getting out of the locker room. How someone had managed to forget such an event was beyond Gou. They must not be fans of squid.

Gou hadn't seen Seijuro since this morning. She had gotten ready at Hana's place rather than returning home once Iwatobi's swimming had concluded. There had been a lack of bathroom space at Hana's and the two of them had squabbled over the mirror quite a bit, but Gou hadn't wanted to get ready at home despite having a whole bathroom there to herself. Because she hadn't wanted Seijuro to see her. For some reason she wanted to surprise him, wanted to see his reaction at all the effort she had put into her appearance tonight without him knowing beforehand. Like that night she had gone out with the bar to the girls. She wouldn't mind seeing that sort of reaction from him again.

"What should we do in the meantime?" asked Hana. "Want to try the squid paella?"

"Sure."

They moved down the rows of stalls. Gou indulged herself a little too much. She tried anything and everything that looked good, even the dishes that sounded less than healthy. Iwatobi wasn't here after all. They wouldn't have any idea about how much she was breaking their diet rules! There was no way they could find out—

"O-oh, you're all here."

Iwatobi. All of them. Standing next to the squid catching heaven event. Gou nearly froze at suddenly finding them there. Vaguely she was glad all she had in her hand was a squid on a stick. It wouldn't have looked very good if she had been caught with the squid cheesecake she had been eating earlier.

"Gou-chan!" Nagise greeted her.

"G-good evening!" Hana hung back behind Gou, as if hiding slightly behind her. Although facing the four boys all at once without knowing any of them particularly well was sure to make any girl suddenly shy.

"You're wearing yukata!"

"So are you," Gou observed. Nagisa and Rei were dressed up nearly as much as Gou and Hana even more so. Maybe they're on a date.Although Makoto and Haru were there too. A double date perhaps?

"You both look cute," Makoto complimented them, although whether he truly meant that or was just being polite Gou didn't know.

Hana still ate it up regardless. "You mean just our yukata?" she prodded.

"Errrr not exactly…" Makoto looked like he was starting to sweat a bit.

Hana lowered her blushing face behind her fried squid. Gou watched with a touch of amusement. You're barking up the wrong tree, Hana-chan. Speaking of which…

Haru stood silently between Nagisa and Makoto, and Gou had to admit she was surprised to see him out. He had been very withdrawn since the race against her brother, not that that was entirely unusual, but there was a strange sense of vulnerability to him that had not been there before. Like an axe whose edge had been worn away and might shatter if struck too hard.

Not to mention the other day at the pool…

"You were already here!" They hadn't known where Haru had disappeared to, Makoto simply saying he did this sometimes, but there was Haru already at the pool. "Are you already practicing?" Gou handed him a towel. "It's good to see you so motivated!"

"I'm not," was his slightly muffled response from behind the towel as he rubbed it against his wet hair. "I was swimming because I didn't know what to do."

"Huh?"

He let the towel fall limply from the top of his head. He looked back at the water as if addressing it. "I figured I should ask the water about matters involving the water."

Gou cocked her head slightly. She had heard Haru talk about the water before as if it were a sentient being but never to quite this extent. "W-what do you mean?"

But Makoto stepped up behind her. "Looks like we're all here" he said. "It would be a good idea to start practice now, don't you think?"

"Uhh, y-yes, of course!" And the conversation had been dropped there.

His strange behavior had concerned Gou, but seeing him here with the rest of Iwatobi was a good sign. They had at least managed to get him out of the lodge and away from the pool, the only two places Haru seemed to go these days, even if they hadn't managed to completely pull him out of his emotional shell.

"We should see about getting something to eat," Rei suggested. "I'd like to try the squid and chips myself."

"I recommend the squid paella!" Hana offered a little too loudly.

"Sounds delicious!" Nagisa responded just as loudly, although Hana was likely looking more forward to Makoto's positive reaction than Nagisa's.

"Well, we're off to watch the squid calligraphy contest." Gou laced her arm through Hana's before the girl was able to stray away from her. "Try not to stay out too late. We have practice tomorrow."

"Yes, Gou-chan!"

"It's Kou."

The boys waved as they moved off and Gou kept a firm grip on Hana's arm while the girl waved enthusiastically back. She needed to keep Hana with her. She would lose her nerve otherwise.

Not that it was a date, of course. Despite what Seijuro said. Not a date at all! They were just…spending time together. Totally different.

Besides she had agreed to come to the festival with Hana before she had talked to Seijuro anyway. If she didn't spend time with Hana after agreeing to do so then what kind of friend would she be! That was her excuse anyway.

"Do you think your brother is going to come?" Hana and her turned to head towards the calligraphy contest area.

"Errr, no, I don't think he is." She had tried texting him but he hadn't responded. Not that he ever responded to her regardless. "He's…not into this sort of thing."

Or into any sort of fun in general. His only source of joy seemed to be in racing and beating his rivals. If you can call that joy anyway.

Her phone buzzed to life and Gou pulled out the ugly phone to read the message. "Seijuro says that he's-"

"Almost there." Seijuro tapped his fingers against the frame of train door, moving his feet restlessly. The train felt like it was going so slow, and his growing impatience only made it feel that much slower. "I am running so late."

"What's that?" Nakagawa raised his head from where he had been mindlessly staring out the train windows.

"Uh, nothing. I was just saying we're running late to pray! Speaking of which, we'll head over to the shrine first; get that done before everyone becomes too distracted." Because trying to herd together a bunch of teenage boys to go do something after they had become enamored in something else was the equivalent of trying to hold water in a strainer using only cheap tape.

Thankfully it wasn't that far of a walk from the train station to the festival and the shrine was easily found once they got there. As per their usual custom whenever they encountered a shrine before a competition, they prayed for victory, clapping their hands and bowing their heads. The prayer went smoothly and quickly. These sorts of things the swimmers were always attentive about. Because praying for victory was a serious matter. Because victory was serious.

"You're free to walk around now," Seijuro announced once they were finished. "But make sure you stay out of trouble!"

"Yes, sir!"

He waited for them to disperse before departing. He didn't want his teammates to see where he was going. Well, namely he didn't want Matsuoka to see where he was going. He watched with a sharp eye as the red head took off down the stairs with Nitori trailing after him, the younger boy calling for the other to wait.

"Where should we head first?" Nakagawa pointed down the hill to some stand or other. "That looks pretty interesting. Catching squid. Let's go do that."

Seijuro opened his phone to see the latest message from Gou informing him where she and Hana were. "Let's head over to the calligraphy contest."

"The calligraphy contest?" Nakagawa squinted. "Calligraphy? I never imagined you were into that sort of thing."

Seijuro wasn't but he had to keep up appearances sake. He couldn't tell Nakagawa the true reason he was going there but nor did he want the other boy going elsewhere. Though he would never admit it he wanted Nakagawa around, for a distraction if nothing else. Gou had Hana with her. It would be awkward if he just showed up by himself. He'd end up turning into a third wheel with the two girls. "Calligraphy is a great historical activity and some culture would do both of us some good!" he said instead. "We should go to increase our cultural aptitude!"

Nakagawa blinked. "Our what?"

They made their way down to the main festival area and with a bit of confusion navigated over to the squid calligraphy area. Seijuro kept a wary eye open for Matsuoka but did not see the other boy, and he relaxed once they reached their destination. It was highly unlikely Matsuoka was interested in such a thing as a calligraphy contest. Unless Nitori was and had dragged him over…Seijuro did a quick double take of the area again.

"There's a good spot over there." Nakagawa pointed.

"O-oh good." Seijuro craned his neck in search of a certain other Matsuoka sibling.

"The calligraphy contest is over there," said Nakagawa in a strange tone, his head tilted to the side as he observed Seijuro's odd behavior.

"A-ah, yes." They moved further over, Seijuro cursing in his head. He didn't want to watch the stupid calligraphy contest. He was much more interested in finding—

"Fancy seeing you here."

He recognized that voice instantly. Oh good! What luck! They had found him instead. That was convenient. He turned. "Gou-ku—" His mouth froze halfway.

To say Gou looked good would have been the understatement of the year. Of the decade. Of the century. He had seen her dressed up before like when she went to the bar with her friends but not like this. Her hair was all done up out of its customary ponytail and she had even worn make up. And she was wearing a yukata. Why hadn't she worn that before? Seijuro would give up all his earnings if he could see her wear that everyday.

Gou ducked her head, a splash of red appearing across her cheeks. "D-did you just get here?"

Seijuro struggled to reassemble his scattered thoughts. He had to retain composure. Nakagawa was right beside him and he was only supposed to be running into Gou by coincidence. He fought to maintain a straight face although the blood rising in his face he couldn't do much about. "Y-yes. W-we just arrived a few moments ago." Did his voice just crack? He coughed to loosen his tight throat. "What about you guys?"

"We arrived just a short while ago. We've been watching the calligraphy contest." Gou twitched suddenly as Hana's hand fell onto her shoulder.

"Good evening, Mikoshiba-san!"

"Hi, Hana."

The girl was dressed up as much as Gou and while she looked cute she was nothing compared to Gou. Although maybe I'm a bit biased.

Nakagawa leaned around Seijuro to peer at the two girls. "You look familiar. You're Iwatobi's manager, aren't you?"

Gou beamed at being recognized. "Yes, that's right."

"Matsuoka…?"

"Gou," said Seijuro while at the same time Gou said, "Kou." She shot a glare at him from under her eyelashes.

Seijuro coughed into his fist. "Um, you've met Nakagawa before."

"We've never been properly introduced." Nakagawa bowed. "I'm Nakagawa Shouta."

"Nice to meet you." Hana and Gou both returned the gesture.

Nakagawa straightened. He looked back at the calligraphy contest. "We should get going. If you don't want to miss the calligraphy contest that is."

"Oh!" The stupid calligraphy contest. Dammit. He had forgotten that had been his initial excuse to come over here. "W-well, looks like it's about to end! Guess we missed it. Too bad!" He turned back to the girls. "What are you two ladies going to do now?"

Gou pointed. "We're going to check out some of the games."

"Games?" Seijuro blinked. "Games! That sounds like fun!" Much more fun than a squid calligraphy contest anyway. Not that it mattered. Gou could have said she was going to go pick through garbage and Seijuro would have happily followed along. "Let's go!"

"Are you sure?" Nakagawa scratched the back of his head. "You sounded so enthusiastic about the calligraphy contest—"

"Oh but playing games sounds like so much more fun now! Let's do that instead! You like games, don't you?" Don't ruin this for me, Nakagawa.

But thankfully Nakagawa sighed heavily, in that way of his when he was about to agree to something he didn't like or was exasperated. Seijuro was used to hearing it. "Your attention span really has been all over the place lately, you know," Nakagawa informed him. "Besides you haven't even asked if it's okay for us to come along—"

"It's fine," said Gou.

Seijuro could have died a little. He threw an arm across the silent Nakagawa shoulders. "Let's go, Nakagawa! I bet you can't beat me at shooting!"

Nakagawa squirmed at the invasion of personal space. "I've never shot a gun in my life! And who says we're going to be playing shooting games?"

"Neither have I but I bet I'll still beat you!"

As it turned out Seijuro was horrible at shooting.

"Shit!" Seijuro swore as another pellet bounced off the wooden wall, missing the target completely. He wasn't getting anywhere close to his intended target. It was a far cry from when he had first walked up to the booth proclaiming he would win something for the girls. Well more specifically for Gou but he couldn't say that with Nakagawa standing right there and Hana had looked so delighted he felt rather obligated to include her too. Not that it mattered now anyway considering how terrible he was doing.

"You have to actually aim at the target." Nakagawa demonstrated with his own gun. "Don't just shoot wildly. You'll never hit it that way."

"You haven't managed to hit it either!"

The two girls standing further down the booth laughed and Nakagawa wrinkled his nose. Indeed he too was suffering just as bad as Seijuro. He hadn't managed to his target a single time.

"Did you not play shooting games as a kid, Mikoshiba-san?" asked Gou.

"Not much." At least not ones where he actually had to precisely aim. "And I'm pretty sure Nakagawa was born an adult."

"Don't make assumptions about my childhood you know nothing about!"

On the other side of Seijuro Gou raised her gun. Her and Hana had held off shooting in order to observe the two boys on how to properly hold the gun and shoot. Not that that they were exactly good examples to follow.

Gou's arms jerked slightly as the gun went off and Seijuro looked to her target. His eyes widened. "Woahhhh Gou-kun! You got a bullseye! Look at how well Gou-kun did! Gou-kun got a bullseye!"

Gou ducked her head. "W-well, it's not quite a bullseye. And it's Kou…"

"I bet it's beginners luck," said Nakagawa. "Try again."

Gou lifted the gun. A second shot rang out.

Nakagawa stared. "No way."

A second hole lay slightly below the first one, almost dead center on the bullseye once again.

"Are you sure you've never shot a gun before?"

"I never have!" Gou's face was slightly red.

"Gou, you're doing so well! That's amazing!"

"T-thanks, Hana-chan."

They watched in silent awe as her next few shots landed on the bullseye or come within inches of it.

"What are you doing exactly?" asked Nakagawa. "What's your secret?"

"N-nothing! I'm just…pointing and shooting?"

"Gou-kun has a natural talent!" Seijuro proclaimed. He wiped away an imaginary tear. "I'm so proud!"

"D-don't be embarrassing!"

"I'd be scared to be her boyfriend," Nakagawa muttered under his breath and Seijuro choked. If a boyfriend should be worried then what about a husband...? I'm going to have to be really, really careful…

Gou ended up hitting nearly all bullseyes for the six shots they were permitted. She leaned over the counter eagerly. "What did I win?!"

That eagerness swiftly faded however once she saw what she had won.

"I can't believe this." Gou's eyes were closed as she clutched the frame a little too tightly. Her prize had been a picture. A picture of a playboy model no less. Clothed at least. Well, relatively. Seijuro was trying rather unsuccessfully to stifle his mirth.

"Here." She turned suddenly and pressed it against Seijuro's midsection. "You take it."

"Me?" He was forced to grab the thing before it crashed to the ground. "Why me?"

"Because." A grimace flitted at the corners of her mouth. "I'm sure you'll get…more use out of it."

Now Nakagawa was the one spluttering on his laughter and Hana was laughing behind her hand.

Seijuro shot them a glare. He frowned down at the picture he was now stuck with. He had no desire to keep the thing but maybe he'd offer it to his swim team. There was sure to be some hormone ridden bugger there who would want it. Noro perhaps. He seemed like the type who would be into that sort of thing.

They tried a few more games, none of which any of them were good at, and moved after a bit in order to not spend too much money on things they weren't succeeding at to try out some of the food. Gou and Seijuro snagged a table as Nakagawa and Hana waited for the food.

"Did my brother come along tonight?" asked Gou once they were alone.

"Matsuoka?" Seijuro was a bit surprised. He would have assumed Gou had already known her brother was here. "He did. He went off with Nitori when we first got here."

Gou played with a lock of her hair. "D-did he say anything to you?"

Seijuro raised an eyebrow. "About anything in specific?" She couldn't mean the marriage could she? Nothing had occurred lately that would make Seijuro believe Matsuoka had somehow found out.

She must have seen it on his face too, for she quickly said, "Oh, no, no, not that. I just meant…in general."

"No. I mean, I haven't spoken to him lately. He's been pretty focused on his swimming." Maybe a little too focused. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, it's- it's nothing." She waved a hand. "It's just…he never tells me anything anymore. I just thought maybe he might say something to you since…you're around him a lot more." She laughed a plastic laugh. "I guess not though."

Seijuro watched her expression carefully. Gou rarely said much when it came to Matsuoka but he still remembered that conversation they had had that night after the haunted boat incident and Matsuoka had punched that guy. Apparently the two of them still weren't speaking to each other. And their father…He still had no idea about that. But now wasn't the time to ask.

"Well, I'm sure everything's fine." She moved her shoulders. "I mean he's doing well in his races. That must mean he's doing alright, right? Otherwise he wouldn't do so well."

"He did perform very well." Actually Matsuoka had performed beyond Siejuro's expectations. He had been in top condition for that last race and his timing has been excellent. He had even managed to beat Nanase, even if it had seemed like Nanasae's heart hadn't truly been in that race, not when you compared it to his performance in the relay.

Anyway he didn't want to get caught up thinking about Matsuoka right now. At least not that Matsuoka sibling. There was a much prettier one he wanted to focus his attention on. "Y-you look very nice tonight by the way." Was his voice cracking again?

Gou smiled, a hint of red on her cheeks. "Thank you."

"I didn't realize you had brought a yukata with you."

"Well, you know." She shrugged. "I thought it might be a good idea to bring one along just in case."

Good idea indeed. Seijuro was glad she had. She looked fantastic in it. "You should wear it more often!"

"Do you think so?" Gou sat down at an empty table that was a bit out of the way of the other tables and towards the back. In case Rin walked by undoubtedly. "Did you not bring yours with you?"

"No." Seijuro sat down across from her. "I don't wear mine very often. I was never very big into wearing yukata."

"What about your family? Do they not like them either?"

"No, my sister loves them. You'd like her I bet."

Something crossed Gou's face he was unable to identify. She smiled softly. "Yeah. It sounds like I would." She coughed. "Is your swimming go well?"

"Better now that we have our own pool. I can actually practice again. What about you guys?"

"We haven't had much time to practice," said Gou. "But they seem to be struggling with exchanges." She frowned. "I never realized how time sensitive it could be."

"Well, exchanges often get overlooked during practices," said Seijuro. "So it's good that you're practicing now."

"Does your team struggle with them too?"

"There's always room for improvement." Seijuro frowned a little. "We might be changing our relay line up actually."

"O-oh. Is that because you…"

"Lost," Seijuro finished for her. "Yeah. I need swimmers who can win. Those who are in there best condition." But that suddenly gave Seijuro a brilliant idea. "Hey you should come swim with me sometime!"

Gou jerked back. "M-me?! Swim with you? No way! You'd absolutely crush me."

"Not against me." He laughed. "With me. It'd be fun!" Plus it would give him a great opportunity to see her in a swimsuit. "You do know how to swim, right?" God maybe he could teach her. That would be adorable.

But she quickly snuffed that idea out. "Of course I know how to swim! My father taught me."

That gave him pause but she kept talking without hitching on the words.

"I just…never really got into swimming very much." She shrugged. "That was always brother's thing."

"Oh come on!" He nudged her leg with his own knee underneath the table. She jumped like a mouse had bit her. "It will be fun and could you see why your brother likes it so much! I could teach you a few tricks."

"M-maybe." Gou's face was nearly bright red.

"It'll be fun I promise!" A thought caught his mind and he rubbed his chin. "There's a new speedo I want to try out too. That'd be the perfect opportunity."

"A new speedo?" Gou's eyes widened slightly. "O-oh well, maybe it would be fun! Swimming, I mean. I-I mean I'll…I'll think about it!"

Hana and Nakagawa came over before they could continue their conversation and Seijuro found himself once again having to monitor what he said in front of Nakagawa. It was a bit frustrating. He would have liked to declare anything and everything in front of anyone and everyone. But he couldn't do that. Not with Matsuoka around. But he bore half of the responsibility for that. If they hadn't made their mistake it wouldn't be like this.

But the important thing wasn't about not making mistakes. It was about how one goes about fixing their mistakes.

A little bandage and time, and any gunshot wound could be healed. That's what Seijuro believed anyway.

It was late by the time they headed for the exit. They were exhausted from walking around so much and had stuffed themselves silly. Seijuro had even indulged in cotton candy, chocolate bananas, and candy apples.

"What about your diet?" asked Gou. "I thought you were super worried about that sort of thing."

"It's good to indulge every once in a while!"

"This looks like diabetes in solidified form." Nakagawa poked at one of the apples. "You're going to get fat."

Which prompted Seijuro in trying to force feed him the stuff, making Hana and Gou nearly cry from laughter.

"I'll be staying at Hana-chan's tonight," Gou said as they headed over to the train station. Nakagawa and Hana were slightly ahead of them, permitting them enough privacy to talk discreetly. "It'll be easier than running over to the house so late."

That was true, though Seijuro was still disappointed. Going home alone to an empty house after a day like today was no fun at all.

They stopped a bit away from the station. There were quite a few Samezuka members there waiting and Seijuro didn't want to get too close lest they see Gou. If someone saw them and happened to mention to Matsuoka Seijuro was traipsing around with the guy's sister it could spell trouble.

"Looks like most everyone's here." Nakagawa glanced back at Seijuro. "I'll see you on the train then."

"Alright."

Nakagawa went off to join the other Samezuka members, and Hana stood there twitching for a moment as if unsure what to do when suddenly she proclaimed her feet hurt and departed for a grassy area off to the side, leaving the two of them alone.

"I had a nice time tonight," he said after a brief moment of silence.

She smiled. "I did too."

"We should do it again sometime."

"We should!"

He wondered how she meant that. Did she mean they should go out on more dates? Official dates? Or did she just mean going out with friends again?

For that matter was tonight even a date? If it was what should he do now? What is one supposed to do after a first date? Should he kiss her? What if she backed up? He would want to die if she did. Should he ask her first? Or would that just come across as totally embarrassing and lame and she would say no simply because of that? What if that awkwardness turned her off completely and caused her to lose any interest she might possibly have?

He opened his mouth, not even sure what he was going to say. "Gou—"

"Captain!"

The words died on Seijuro's tongue. "That's—"

Gou's eyes had grown impossibly wide. "Brother!" She glanced frantically around herself. Luckily the other Matsuoka sibling was nowhere in sight. Not yet anyway.

Dammit. Seijuro didn't know what he had been about to do but he had been effectively robbed of any chance to initiate anything regardless. Dammit, Matsuoka. "Looks like it's time to go."

Gou quickly nodded. She dashed over to Hana, nearly dive bombing the other girl as she grasped her arm and pulled her along. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Alright!" Seijuro waved as the two girls hurried down the dark road, their chattering voices echoing back to him, Hana laughing and Gou scolding her. They disappeared around the corner and with the coast clear Seijuro moved closer to the bus station. It wouldn't do if Matsuoka caught him hanging around in a dark corner like some sort of creep. Or anyone for that matter.

"Captain!" Nitori greeted him pleasantly upon catching sight of him. "The train's about to arrive!"

"Great! Thanks, Nitori." Seijuro glanced discreetly over the crowd of Samezuka members standing around but did not see a certain shark toothed boy amongst them. Where could he be?

"Captain!"

Oh, there he is. Seijuro turned around. Matsuoka was running up the sidewalk towards him and Seijuro tensed. Was he about to get punched in the face? Had Matsuoka found out about the marriage? What other reason would Matsuoka have to be running towards him?

But Matsuoka didn't run up flinging a fist at Seijuro's head. Rather he was so out of breath he leaned halfway over with his hands clutching just above his knees, sides heaving with his labored breathing. . It couldn't be about the marriage if Matsuoka was stopping to regain his breath. Or maybe he was regaining his breath in order to punch him.

"Matsuoka, what are you doing?" he asked carefully.

"The train's about to arrive!" Nitori supplied helpfully for some reason. Maybe he thought Rin had been running in order to catch the train.

"Captain." Matsuoka straightened. Streaks of sweat were running down his face, but more noticeably than that was the lack of that customary glowering expression of his. Matsuoka wasn't smiling, not that he seemed to ever do so unless he was beating Nanase in a race, but there was a calmness to him, a calm intensity like he had reached some sort of decision. Seijuro had never seen him look like that before. He scarcely managed to keep his eyebrows from rising.

"We need to talk."

Inside the darkened house Seijuro sat on the couch, his hands laced in front of his mouth, gaze locked on his phone sitting on the table in front of him as if waiting for it to do something. He should lay down and go to bed. Now even when Gou wasn't there he slept on the couch. It felt wrong to sleep in the bed without her permission after so much time and he regarded it as her's. He didn't want to invade that personal space. Not with her permission anyway.

And he couldn't sleep right now besides. Not after the decision he had made regarding Matsuoka's request. And, more importantly, how much he should tell Gou, if anything.

It wasn't technically any of Gou's business. What he did with his swim team and its members was none of her concern, and it was knowledge that only he needed to know.

But…it was her precious brother. And her precious swim team.

She deserved to know. And he felt like he should tell her.

He reached forward and seized his phone. He punched out a text.

There's something you should know…

The next morning Gou burst out into the pool area. She had run over from Hana's house, her phone with its text message from Seijuro she had just read this morning clutched in her hand, knowing she needed to tell them.

"Big news!" She nearly fell over as she came to a screeching halt, the four boys looking up in mild surprise at her sudden entrance. "My brother!" She fought to suck in a breath to continue. "He's going to be swimming in the relay for the final round!"

I always kind of wondered how Gou managed to find out Rin was swimming in the relay in the show as I find it unlikely Rin would tell her. I'll just pretend that Seijuro told her in the show as well.

Also can you tell I had no idea what to title this chapter? Oops.

Responses to some things!

Frozenoreo - Thank you so much! I really wanted to develop the Gou/Seijuro more in this chapter but it was difficult since they had Hana and Nakagawa with them. Later on though!

Gekkou No Netsu - Oh my god I have been more than amused at how certain events of this fic have appeared in some form or another in season 2. Although diet is so basic I'm sort of amazed it wasn't mentioned at all in the first season.

Luxyray - Thank you so much for letting me know about that silly typo! It was sort of amusing with having Nagisa accidentally in there as it is the opposite of how Nagisa would have acted but it should be fixed now!

Oomaki-chan - Oh gosh thank you so much, I am so embarrassed. I feel like this story has gotten way too long so it definitely helps to hear that it hasn't gotten boring due to length! I'm hoping to wrap it up soonish but there's still quite a bit to cover so we'll see!

MCRDancer - I have to give you mega kudos for reading this ungodly long fic multiple times! I certainly don't have any plans to stop writing the story and will hopefully have it finished up soonish! We're starting to get somewhat close to the ending now!

Evarria - Aw thank you so much! Admittedly my summaries are pretty terrible. I struggled so much with the summary for this story it was absolutely ridiculous and the premise is even more so ridiculous I'm amazed this fic has gotten any sort of reception at all! I totally respect people with different ships so thank you for giving this fic a chance even if some of the pairings aren't your usual preference! Most of the other ships will definitely be kept to the background outside of a few instances so hopefully they won't be too off putting!