I'm fairly certain I'm very unhealthily addicted to Sims. Send help.

Gou watched the screens with riveted attention, mindlessly gnawing on a protein bar like she was eating popcorn at a movie theater. Across the three screens displayed in front of her played the recording of Haru's swimming they had taken just a few moments ago. The recordings provided them with a birds eye view of his form from several different angles, a great way for the swimmers to see themselves in action and judge if any adjustments needed to be made. And it provided a most excellent view of their muscles. Which Gou was primarily focused on.

Whatever. She deserved a reward after all the running back and forth she had done to get those recordings. That had been quite the workout.

The cameras had been provided courtesy of Goro. The coach had gotten tired of the boys' nearly constant mistakes, decreeing they didn't know what they were doing and they left him no other choice. The next day the cameras and video monitors had appeared.

"Who paid for all this?" Rei had asked upon seeing the equipment.

"I did!" Goro decreed. "I told you! You left me no other choice!"

"You can afford all this, Goro-chan?"

"Well, Amakata helped," Goro admitted, completely missing the looks that comment generated. "And besides, we're going to win that money, remember?! I expect you to pay me back in full!"

Gou grimaced around her protein bar. Betting on money they hadn't even acquired yet. That was poor financial planning if she ever heard it. Hopefully it was Amakata who controlled the purse strings and had a better plan in mind…

Haru straightened from leaning over to watch the screens. He made his way back over to the pool, having watched his fill. He had been the guinea pig for the recordings. He had offered no feedback but his wanting to get back into the pool so shortly after watching was a clear sign he had gotten something in mind after watching.

"Haru-chan's being very proactive," Nagisa commented as the other boy dove in.

That he was. Despite the announcement that Rin would be participating in Samezuka's relay it didn't appear to have effected him. In fact he looked to be in better spirits than he had been since the race against her brother. He was calmer, more stable, as if he had stepped off some sort of precipice onto more solid ground, had found some sort of answer to a riddle he didn't even know he was trying to solve.

Had something happened that night at the fair? That was the only thing Gou could assume. His attitude had changed from that time she had seen him there and when she had seen him the next day. What had happened she wasn't certain but whatever it was she was glad. She didn't want to experience that feeling she had after watching him lose to her brother. Ever.

They took a short break and Gou gathered up all the dirty towels to bring to the locker room. She nearly dropped them at what she saw when she entered however. "W-What are you doing?!"

Goro flipped open the locker door he had been writing on, proudly displaying his graffiti. "Iwatobi forever!"

Gou stared in open mouthed shock. He had even written it in English…

Nagisa peered at the words. "You spelled it wrong, Goro-chan."

"That isn't what's important!"

"Of course that isn't what's important!" Gou clutched her head. "What are you thinking?! You're defacing public property! What if they charge us for it?!"

"They won't notice it! People write on these things all the time!" Goro gestured at the other pristine lockers. "And even if they do how will they know we did it?"

"You wrote our school's name on it!"

"If only you had spelled that wrong too, Goro-chan."

"I wouldn't spell that wrong! And who's to say another school wouldn't write something like that?"

"What other school would write that?"

Goro considered that for a moment. "Samezuka?"

"Why would Samezuka write that?!"

"Well, you are married to the captain of their swim team."

Gou choked on her own tongue. She tried to say something in response but all she could manage were a few utterances that were nowhere close to words.

"Would Sei-chan really write such a thing though?" Nagisa scratched his cheek thoughtfully. "Wouldn't he be more likely to write something like 'Seijuro and Gou forever' instead?"

Gou's face reddened.

"You're right!" Goro agreed. "That does seem more like something he'd write!"

"N-no, he wouldn't!"

Nagisa seized the marker from Goro. He approached another locker. "I'm going to write that over here."

Gou smacked the instrument out of his hand. "Don't you dare! It's bad enough we have our school name written down, we don't need my name written there too! I don't want to be the only one getting charged!"

"You're most concerned about that rather than the message itself?" Haru asked and Gou's face reddened further at his implication.

"Let me write something else then." Goro bent down to pick up the marker.

"No!" Gou quickly placed a foot over the offending instrument whilst at the same time Nagisa said, "You'd probably just spell it wrong again, Goro-chan."

"The spelling isn't what's important!" Goro insisted. "What's important is that the message gets across!"

"At least his lack of spelling doesn't affect his coaching ability," commented Haru, clearly looking for silver linings.

"That's true!" Nagisa shook his smarting hand. "Even if you can't spell you've helped us a lot by coming on this trip, Goro-chan!"

"Of course!" Goro puffed out his chest, likely trying to look like some sort of brazen God but instead just reminding Gou of a swelled up angry frog.

"And we should keep up the hard work," said Makoto. He stepped further into the room now that they weren't squabbling over the marker, deeming it safe to enter. "That way we can face Rin once again in the relay."

"That's the spirit!" Goro knocked a fist into his open palm. "It's time for us to get serious! Where's that marker?! I need to map out a swimming regiment!"

"I'll hold onto the marker," Gou declared. The last thing she needed was for him to go crazy drawing all over a white board again. All those circles and crazy lines…It had taken her an age to erase the other one he had used for their training camp.

She bent down to confiscate the marker. A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention suddenly and she glanced up to see Rei walking out of the locker room. He hadn't said a single word while being there despite Nagisa and Goro's antics. That was unusual in itself, but him leaving without saying anything was definitely irregular. He was normally always so keen on scolding Nagisa, although Gou couldn't help but think of that as his own little way of involving himself.

But today he had excluded himself on purpose and it looked like she wasn't the only one who had noticed it either. Haru was watching the other boy leave as well, a strange almost concerned expression on his face. It was the most emotion she had seen from him in a while and she nearly stumbled into Makoto's legs as she rose from her crouched position. Was Haru worried about Rei? And if he was, then why?

She didn't get a chance to pursue that conversation however, as Makoto asked her what they had coming up on the schedule.

"Ummm." She tried to get her brain back on the current topic. "There's an industrial complex tour coming up."

"An industrial complex?"

"Yes. It's some sort of plant, I think. I'm not entirely certain. Sorry, I'll try and find out more later."

They had been so involved with swimming she hadn't paid too much attention to their hosted events lately. Time was dwindling down and there weren't too many events left besides.

Just the big race left. And then home.

She bit her lip. Only a few more weeks and they would be back in Japan. Time had passed by so quickly it was almost alarming. It felt like only yesterday they had landed and she had gone out and gotten drunk. And gotten married.

Somehow thinking about leaving made her feel somewhat sad. Despite what had happened she had…really enjoyed herself here. Overall she had and in some aspects being in this country had felt like being in another world. Somewhere where crazy things could happen any day and life could change in a heartbeat.

Once they returned it would be back to school, back to home, back to normalcy. Back to sanity and reality.

Somehow Gou couldn't help but compare being here to being inside a dream.

And she wasn't so certain if she wanted to wake up just yet.

Seijuro's tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth in morbid concentration of his current task. When Seijuro found something to devote himself he really devoted himself to it and this task was no different. There was no messing this up. If he did it would be almost impossible to fix, if at all. He only got one shot. He had to make sure he did it right!

His key scratched across the surface of the metal park bench. It briefly occurred to him that using the key to his current residence was probably not the brightest idea but he was rather short on scratching instruments. If the key got damaged…Well, he could always climb through the window he supposed. Or beg Gou to let him in. Yes, that.

He nearly held his breath as he finished his masterpiece. He blew away the metal dust his key had cropped up and swept his hand across the surface to clear it.

There. It was done! He leaned back to admire his handiwork.

Carved into the bench was now the saying 'Seijuro + Gou 4ever' across its surface. Seijuro complimented himself on a job well done. He had wanted to spell forever fully but that would have taken a lot more carving and time, and right now he just didn't have that. He couldn't very well leave it unfinished before he had to depart. Some compromises had to be made! It was still utterly perfect regardless. Even if it weren't technically true. Oh well. He shrugged. If some stranger saw it they wouldn't know any better anyway.

"You should be more careful about that sort of stuff."

Seijuro lowered his eyelids at the reprimand. Nakagawa sucking all the joy out of Seijuro's work. How expected.

Still Nakagawa was right, of course. Defacing public property with little love messages was not a very smart thing to do, especially with Matsuoka not far off, but Seijuro couldn't help himself. He was excited. Despite the fact nothing had happened at the fair it had still kind of, sort of been a date, and Gou had said she had enjoyed herself. And she had agreed to go swimming with him. Things were great!

He chewed on a knuckle. He still had to plan that swimming thing…

"Seems like Iwatobi is the one running late for once," Nakagawa observed.

"That they are." Seijuro moved his key across the letters to make sure the scratch was deep enough.

"Have you tried texting her?" Nakagawa was careful to not say any names but they both knew exactly who he was referring to.

"Not yet," Seijuro replied. He had known what inviting Nakagawa along to the fair could entail and he had been unsurprised when Nakagawa had guessed it right away the very next day.

"You like her, don't you?"

They stood side by side at the edge of the pool and Nakagawa dropped the sentence so casually anyone else watching would have assumed they were simply talking about swimming affairs. Seijuro made sure to not show anything on his face and to not change his expression. He merely hummed in his throat in response, eyes trained sharply on Matsuoka beneath the surface of the water.

"Is there anything going on between you two?" asked Nakagawa.

Seijuro couldn't tell him the whole truth. That would be too dangerous. "Not yet," he said instead. Because he hoped that was true.

Nakagawa's gaze wandered to Matsuoka. "She's the sister of—"

"Yes."

"Does he—"

"No."

Nakagawa raised an eyebrow but Seijuro provided no further response. He couldn't anyway. The less Nakagawa knew the better. He couldn't divulge the whole truth.

"Well." Nakagawa let out a breath. He shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose there's nothing really to tell him if you aren't even dating yet."

Seijuro smirked a little. He didn't bother correcting Nakagawa – there was a lot to tell Matsuoka - but he knew everything would be alright. Nakagawa would keep the knowledge to himself.

And maybe Seijuro was a little glad that someone else knew. It was nice to have someone from his own swim team that he didn't have to hide and dance around. Personally he would have liked to tell everyone but with the way things stood now that wasn't possible. Maybe he'd tell Nakagawa the whole truth someday. But not right now.

"Is that why you let Matsuoka onto the relay?" asked Nakagawa suddenly and Seijuro looked up from his scratching.

He stared uncomprehendingly. "Huh?"

"The girl," Nakagawa said in clarification. "Is it because of her that you let Matsuoka onto the relay?"

Seijuro was genuinely surprised by the question. He straightened and tucked the key back into his pocket. "Not at all. Why? Is that what you think?"

Nakagawa didn't answer that. Instead he said, "I was just curious why you suddenly decided to let him on."

"He asked to join and he's done very well." He glanced in Matsuoka's direction. The boy was sitting on the edge of the curb with Nitori. Nitori was talking but if Matsuoka's mouth opening was any indication of how much he was contributing to the conversation it was likely only grunts and short responses if anything at all.

"You saw that for yourself at the last round," Seijuro continued. "He's one of the few in his best condition and we'll need that if we want to win. It had nothing to do with Gou."

Now that was a complete truth. Seijuro hadn't based his decision of Matsuoka's request around Gou at all. If anything allowing Matsuoka onto the relay team was more detrimental to Iwatobi than refusing his request. Nanase had already lost to him once. Having to face him again was sure to make even that stoic teen a little nervous.

"If I said no, wouldn't you be asking me why I said no?" he prodded.

Nakagawa mulled over that for a moment. "It's just he's so new to the team is all," he said. "He only joined us a few months ago. He may not be as in sync with the others as someone who has been with us for years."

That may be true and while Seijuro would have normally agreed with Nakagawa, he could still remember that amazing relay Matsuoka had swum with Nanase in elementary school. If one regarded past history Matsuoka was very good at coordinating with others, and he had asked to join the relay. While Matsuoka's request had been unexpected - Matsuoka had been focused on only the 100m free since joining the swim team – it could be he wanted to feel more like a part of the team or something. Seijuro honestly wasn't sure about the motive behind Matsuoka's sudden desire to join the relay but he was sure Matsuoka had his reasons.

"He'll catch on."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then we'll remove him."

"Are you sure?"

Nakagawa's gaze was probing and Seijuro was a bit taken aback. Normally Nakagawa wasn't on him so much about the decisions he made regarding the swim team. This was the first time he could recall Nakagawa pressing an issue so much.

It had to be because of Gou. He could see how that could be a worry but he wasn't basing his decisions about the swim team around his feelings for her. Winning came first after all.

"Of course. Have a little more faith in your captain!"

Nakagawa watched him a moment then he nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Alright." He turned his head. "Looks like Iwatobi has arrived. Just in time too."

Indeed they had. They must have been in quite the hurry too for the boys' hair was still wet. And of course they had to round the corner right where Seijuro's newly carved bench was. Quickly he rose to hide the carving. "M-morning!" His voice was so loud Nakagawa flinched away from him. "Glad to see you guys made it!"

"Sorry we're so late." Makoto swiped an arm across his forehead. "Goro was working us extra hard and-"

"We lost track of time because I was busy running back and forth," Gou grouched. "And nobody else carries a watch."

Running back and forth? Seijuro had no idea what that was about. Maybe a new exercise regiment?

"Oh good, a bench." Nagisa looked in delight at the thing like it was a lovely feather bed then an overheated cheap germ infested hunk of metal. "I'm so tired."

Shit. Seijuro slid to the side to block his path. "W-we should hurry up and get going!" Quickly he forced himself to lower his voice. "I mean since we're already running a bit behind."

Nakagawa's face twitched as if caught in some sort of spasm. His body was almost positively shaking with the suppression of his laughter. Seijuro resisted the urge to kick him.

"You're right, we should hurry," Makoto agreed. "We don't want to be any later than we already are."

Seijuro could have dropped to his knees and kissed the other boy's shoes. If you were ever a friend in need then Makoto was your friend indeed.

"We'll see you guys inside then," said Makoto and the Iwatobi members turned to head towards the plant's entrance.

Gou waved as they moved away and Seijuro returned the gesture, though with a little less exuberance then he normally would have. His narrowed gaze slid over to the person next to him. "You…"

Nakagawa burst out laughing. He turned to the side so Iwatobi and the other Samezuka members wouldn't notice. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He wiped a tear away. "Ugh, that was hilarious."

"Glad to see you're so amused."

"Well, I did warn you," Nakagawa pointed out, fighting a guffaw. "You brought that upon yourself, you know."

"Don't I know the feeling," he muttered under his breath. Ever since that night he had gotten stupidly drunk and gotten stupidly married he had brought it upon himself. He wondered what else he would be able to bring upon himself before this trip was over.

Gou knew today was going to be boring, simply unable to imagine how in heaven's name a tour around an industrial plant could be exciting, but standing around the lobby for roll call was more boredom than she had anticipated. It was one of the plant's policies, the roll call. They wanted to make sure everyone was accounted for when Iwatobi and Samezuka left for the day apparently, due to liability issues or something. And because of Samezuka there were a lot of names to go through.

Gou shifted where she stood. Her feet were aching from all the running she had been doing earlier to get those recordings. They had better pay off. Not that a little exercise was bad, but that had been a lot of work, damnit. She hoped the boys would use them adequately.

She raised her head as one of the plant employee's was droning on through the names. "Nagisa Hazuki."

"Here!" Nagisa waved his hand wildly, jumping to be seen.

"Y-yes, thank you," said the employee. He looked back to his list. "Toru Iwashimizu."

"Here," called one of the Samezuka members.

It was a bit weird hearing the first names of the other team. Gou had never heard them before. And hearing Nagisa's last name was strange too…

"Rin Matsuoka," called the employee.

"Here," came the surly reply of her brother from amidst the crowd. The employee looked around in confusion and Nitori waved his hand when Rin failed to respond. "Here, sir! He's over here!"

Gou straightened. Her name should be next, right after her brother's. She got ready to call out.

"Seijuro Mikoshiba," the employee called.

"Her—" Gou stopped, mouth halfway open. Her eyebrows lowered. Seijuro? But why were they calling him? She should have been right after her brother. Why would they call Mikoshiba before her? Matsuoka was before Mikoshiba after all. So what had happened to her name?

She stood puzzled for a moment when it suddenly hit her and she made a squeaky sound like a cat toy being impossibly squeezed. The reason they hadn't called her name before Seijuro was because…because…

They changed it!

She sucked in a breath. How could she have missed it?! How could she not have thought about that before?! Of course the host country would change her name! After the marriage they must have changed it to…to…

Oh god. Her brother was right there. If he heard her new flashy last name…It'll be the last thing I ever hear!

"Ma-Makoto." She didn't know what to do and she could feel panic settling in like poison gas, her voice laced with it. "Ma-Makoto!"

Makoto looked down with a questioning expression at the strange way she said his name. "Yes?"

"Here," Seijuro called out from somewhere in the crowd.

Gou struggled to get her throat working, trying to think of the best way to explain with her very limited time. "M-my name!" She glanced at her brother to make sure he wasn't looking. "M-my last name! They changed it!"

"Your last name?" Makoto blinked. "Changed it? What do you mean? Who changed your last name?"

"T-the host country. B-because of the…Because of the you know!"

Makoto blinked, not understanding and it was Rei who caught on first. "Of course!" he exclaimed.

Gou waved her hands frantically. He was so loud! She was painfully aware of some nearby Samezuka members glancing over.

"It all makes perfect sense! The host country must have changed it to Miko—"

Nagisa quickly clamped a hand over his mouth. "Rei-chan, shhh!"

"Oh god." Makoto's eyes were distant, like he had just witnessed a car crash. "Oh god! W-why didn't we think of that before?! Oh god! W-what do we do?!" He seized Haru by the shoulders and shook him. "If Rin hears then he'll-" Makoto wasn't brave enough to finish the sentence.

Haru endured the shaking with hardly an eye twitch. He must be used to such things. "Maybe Rin will think it was a mistake," he said. "Their names are right after each other."

"There's no way Rin would buy that! He's not that stupid!"

"Are you sure?"

"Don't be rude, Haru!"

Gou looked to the platform. The employee was gazing at the roll call sheet. He held it out to the host with an apparent question and the host stepped forward, pointing and saying a few things.

"This isn't the time to be arguing about Rin-chan-san's intelligence!" Rei insisted. "We must think of a plan! Maybe Nagisa-kun can run up and grab that roll call sheet—"

"That won't work! There isn't enough time and there are way too many people in the way!" said Nagisa. "Maybe we can pretend to get in a fight instead?! That would distract them!"

"Who in their right mind would want that?!" hissed Rei. "And we could get disqualified from the event for fighting!"

"Oh yeah…"

"Just tell them it's a mistake," said Haru patiently. "You can't be blamed if they just read it incorrectly."

"No, no, we have to think of something better," Makoto attested. "Betting on Rin believing something like that is way too risky!"

"Everyone just start coughing really loudly when they're trying to call it out!"

"Then they might think we're all diseased, Nagisa-kun!"

"Or that we're smokers," said Haru.

"Too late," muttered Gou.

On the platform the host stepped back and the employee returned to looking over the sheet.

Oh god. B-but maybe this isn't so bad.She had thought before that she should tell her brother about the marriage. Maybe this was the perfect opportunity to get it over with?

She swallowed. Yeah right. She was going to die.

"Gou," the employee started and Gou closed her eyes tightly, hands fisting like she were about to endure a blow. This was it. Goodbye, cruel world.

"Haru!" Makoto's loud voice cut off the employee. It was the loudest Gou had ever heard him yell.

"What?" Haru grouched.

"I-I'm sorry!"

What in the world was Makoto apologizing for? Gou opened her eyes. Just in time to see the taller boy seize Haru, bend him backwards in the same striking fashion Gou had seen on an old famous war photograph somewhere, and kiss him full on the mouth. In front of everyone. In front of the entire Samezuka team.

For a moment there was only stunned silence. Everyone stared in shock at the spectacle occurring right in front of them, including the adults on the platform. Even Gou, her mouth hanging wide open.

"Ooooh," said Nagisa.

Rei nudged her in the ribs. "Gou-san!" he hissed.

"O-oh!" Gou's head whipped back to the platform. "I-I'm here!" She waved her hand. "Right here!"

The employee's head twitched in her direction. "Y-yes. T-thank you." He shook his head, coughed, and returned to his list. "Ummm, K-Kazuteru Minami."

Gou took a deep breath. Crisis averted!

Next to her Makoto had released Haru. He was worrying his hands and looked a bit like he might burst into tears. Haru just stood there. His eyes were glazed over and his hair a little mussed.

It appeared Makoto had found a way to aptly distract everyone from calling her name without running the risk of getting them booted out of the competition.

She just hoped it didn't come at a cost.

"I can't believe those two." Noro rubbed his nose as they made their way down a glass corridor. The plant and all its huge metal machines were directly below. For their viewing pleasure. Not that anyone was paying attention. At all really. Everyone was too busy talking about the same thing. Makoto and Nanase's little kissing display in the lobby.

"Why would they decide to do something like that now?" Noro continued. "I mean in front of everyone like that and in an industrial facility of all places. That isn't very romantic."

Indeed it wasn't, although Seijuro found it amusing that the plants lack of being a romantic spot seemed to be what Noro was most incensed about.

"Maybe someone dared them to do it," Nakagawa suggested.

"Maybe," said Seijuro, knowing it wasn't. He wasn't so foolish to believe Makoto would have chosen that time and place to suddenly convey his feelings for Nanase. That odd behavior had been for a reason and while he hadn't been sure what exactly that reason was at the time he felt he had a fair inclination now.

Gou's last name. It hadn't occurred to him before but they hadn't called her name right after her brother where it properly should have been. That explained Makoto's bizarre little display of affection for his childhood friend this morning.

Funny how he had never thought of it before, the issue of her last name. For some reason knowing what it was was quite thrilling.

Mikoshiba Gou. That had a nice ring to it, if he did say so himself. Not that he was in any position to say so.

He didn't get a chance to speak to Iwatobi until nearly midday, when they finally stopped for a few minutes to take a break. Matsuoka disappeared around the corner, off to the bathroom most likely, and Seijuro noted Gou followed a moment later, skulking after her brother like some sort of amateur maladroit ninja. If Seijuro was lucky she would distract him for a few minutes.

Makoto had taken up residence on a set of rocky dull gray stairs leading up to a plain looking yellow door; an electrical closet probably. Makoto had his head in his hands, and Nagisa and Rei were with him, trying to cheer him up. Of Nanase there was no sign.

"Hey." He walked over to them. "Everything alright over here?"

"Mikoshiba-san." Rei grimaced. "Uhh, yes, everything's fine. Makoto-senpai is just a little...ummm…"

"Stressed out," said Nagisa, smiled strained at the corners.

Makoto moaned into his hands. "I can't believe I did that."

"That was…rather climatic of you," Seijiro commented. "But thanks."

If Makoto hadn't done what he had then there would have been a screaming red-haired shark-toothed boy going on a murdering rampage right now and Seijuro would have been on the receiving end of said rampage.

"Sorry for making you have to do that."

"No, it's fine." Makoto raised his head. "It needed to happen. That did. It's been far too long." He rubbed his upper arms. "I'm glad it did," he said more quietly.

Seijuro found it surprising that Makoto didn't look upset. Rather he looked like a burden had finally been lifted from him, as if he had been carrying something with him all this time and had finally relieved himself of it. That heavy burden had been replaced with anxiousness and nervousness, but also relief and a certain amount of liberation.

"Where is Nanase-kun anyway? I haven't seen him in a while."

"He wandered off," said Makoto. He saw Seijuro's expression. "He does that fairly often. I'd imagine he'd want to be alone right now after what happened earlier."

"Don't worry, Mako-chan!" Nagisa raised his hands encouragingly. "I'm sure Haru-chan won't say no!"

Makoto smiled weakly. "Haru doesn't like sudden things like that. Especially not in front of everyone. It would have been better if I had said something in private first. That was my mistake." He rubbed a hand over his face.

"Well, just think of how Rei-chan and I got together!" said Nagisa.

Seijuro frowned. "How did you two get together?"

Nagisa's smile was beaming. "Rei-chan threw me down and ripped my pants off!"

Rei choked on his own tongue. He spluttered, turning so red it looked like he might explode. Even Makoto was turning a slight shade of crimson. Seijuro pondered if such a tactic could somehow work on Gou. Probably not. He wasn't worried so much about Matsuoka in that case as Gou killing him herself long before her brother could get close enough to.

"I-I did no such thing!" Rei protested. "You took your own pants off!"

"Oh, maybe it was me who took your pants off then."

Seijuro was fairly certain there was now steam coming off Rei's ears. The two proceeded to bicker about who had removed whose pants first (Seijuro was at a loss as to why it mattered; he was sure they had both removed each other's pants more than a number of times now) and Seijuro turned his attention back to Makoto. "Do you regret it?" He asked the question quietly so the other two wouldn't hear.

Makoto looked up at him with a faint hint of surprise. "No," he said almost instantly. "I'm glad actually. Even if Haru says no. I mean it will hurt – it will hurt a lot – but at least I'll know. That's better than not doing anything about it. I've waited far too long to begin with."

"Why did you wait so long?"

Makoto gave him a wan smile. "How do you tell your best friend you love them?"

Right in the gut, huh? Seijuro flinched a little. It sounded awfully familiar. Like how do you tell the person you're accidentally married to that you want to be with them?

"Maybe there's something about this country," Makoto was saying, looking up at the ceiling once more. "First Rei and Nagisa, then Ama-chan and Goro, and now this. It's a crazy backwards country with a violent and checkered past but somehow it…" His brows lowered, searching for the right words.

"Brings people together," Seijuro offered.

"Yes, that's right." Makoto smiled at him, that all-knowing smile, and Seijuro turned away with a snort.

If the country did bring people together then how long would it be before it was he and Gou's turn, he wondered. Maybe never. Maybe all that magic had been used up their first night here when they had gotten married. Maybe that had been his chance and he had blown it.

Then again Seijuro wasn't really one who believed in magic or fate or anything like that. He believed in speed and time and his own ability. He believed in trying and trying until he succeeded.

Because the fastest swimmer always wins.

That's all.

Gou ducked low and peered around the corner of the bathroom for her brother. It had likely been a mistake going the same time as he but she couldn't help herself. That tour had been so long and boring. Her bladder had been screaming the entire time.

Following in behind him at a safe distance had been easy but coming back out was another matter. She had hoped she would take much longer than he would, her being a girl and all, but there was really no telling.

After a moment or two without hearing her brother's voice or seeing his figure, she decided it had to be safe. She stepped out.

"Hey."

She froze. Damnit! Guess it wasn't safe. Why do these things always happen to me? "H-hey." She turned to find him oddly waiting in the entrance to the boys bathroom. She tilted her head. "Are you…waiting on something?" It couldn't have been her could it?

But he gestured at the boy's bathroom. "I'm waiting on Nitori."

"Ohhh." Damn. She had forgotten about the other boy. She hadn't seen him go into the bathroom.

Rin frowned in the direction of the toilet. "He's taking an awfully long time too. I hope he didn't take that damn picture in with him."

"Picture?"

Rin scowled. "The picture the captain gave him after he had won it at the fair or something. Nitori's become a little too attached to it."

Gou's eyes widened slightly. She had a pretty fair idea what picture he was referring to. "O-oh, I see." She fought to keep her mirth well hidden.

"Speaking of inappropriate," said Rin, tone oddly changing, "looks like Haru and Makoto are going to be making some babies tonight."

Gou's face reddened. "B-but they can't," she protested. "They're both boys."

"That isn't going to stop them from trying."

Gou could feel the heat crawling up her neck. She fanned her face. She really didn't want to talk about Makoto and Haru's plans for the evening after what had happened earlier. She hoped it worked out for them, she truly did, but how they decided to physically express their relationship was not something she wanted to know about.

"Brother," she couldn't help but ask, "why did you decide to swim in the relay?"

The moment she said it he looked over at her sharply and she nearly shrank back at the sudden intensity of his gaze. His expression changed, became brittle and barbed, a serrated edge. "How do you know about that?" The words were very low.

For a second Gou panicked. She couldn't tell him that Seijuro had told her. He would immediately want to know why she was having contact with the Samezuka captain outside of their coinciding hosted events and swimming time. Not to mention the distrust it had the chance of spawning between her brother and his captain.

"I…I overheard some Samezuka members talking about it," she said quickly. That at least was believable. "Sorry. I didn't mean to cause any-"

"Does Haru know?"

She blinked. "Haru-senpai? Y-yes. They all do. Everyone on the team."

Rin grit his teeth. His gaze strayed to focus heatedly on something to the side. Had he not wanted them to know? It certainly looked like he hadn't.

"B-brother?"

"I told you not to get involved in things that don't concern you," he snapped. He straightened as Nitori finally made his exit out of the bathroom.

"Sorry, Matsuoka-senpai! They ran out of toilet paper in the one stall and so I had to—" He caught sight of Gou. "Ah, Gou-san!" He glanced between the two. "The girls restroom is over there." He pointed helpfully.

Gou's smiled was strained. "T-thanks."

Rin pushed off the wall. "Let's go, Nitori."

"Ah, of course, Matsuoka-senpai!" He bowed politely to Gou as he went past and then took racing off after the receding back of her brother. "W-wait up, Matsuoka-senpai!"

Gou took a deep breath. Maybe her brother was right. Maybe it would be best for her to stay out of it, but she couldn't help herself. She couldn't let things stay as they were now. In the end that would just make no one happy.

Rin was wrong. It did concern her.

It involves me because it involves you.

She just wished he could see that.

"Can you see anything?"

There was a pause. "Barely. It's too dark."

Nagisa inched closer. "Does Haru-chan look mad?"

Another longer pause. "I can't tell," Gou said at last. "It's too dark."

Seijuro sighed, running a hand through his hair. It was early evening and he was tired but here they were back at the Iwatobi lodges. Haru had finally shown back up from wherever he had gone off to – from the looks of it he had been at the pool – and Makoto had swiftly tracked him down. The two had gone outside for privacy but that had proved incredibly ineffectual. Gou and Nagisa, those two hooligans, were crowded against the wall, peeking around the corner to where Makoto and Haru were on the other side of the wrap-around porch. Spying.

"Don't you think that's enough eavesdropping?" scolded Rei. "I'm sure Makoto and Haruka-senpai would not like it if they knew we were snooping on them at such a critical time."

"Don't bother," Seijuro replied dully. "I already tried that argument earlier."

"The future of the swim team is at stake here, Rei-chan!" Nagisa keened, ignoring Seijuro's comment. "What if Mako-chan and Haru-chan break up?!" He gasped. "What if the swim team breaks up?!"

"Exactly!" added Gou for emphasis, not pulling away from peeking around the corner.

Rei's lips pressed together. "I doubt that will happen," he remarked but said nothing more in argument against their spying.

Seijuro scratched the back of his head, frowning. "How can they break up if they weren't together?"

"Shhh!" Gou shushed him.

He let out another deep breath. He could feel himself growing close to a pout or sulk. This isn't what he had had in mind when Gou had told him to come to the Iwatobi lodges. Not asked him to come with her. Told him. "It's our fault this happened!" she had insisted. "It's our job to make sure it gets set right!"

"But wouldn't it be better to let them solve their own issues?" Seijuro had asked, immediately causing Gou to drop her bag with a clunk and whirl to face him.

"You're coming and that's final!"

Oh, well. Truthfully Seijuro was a little curious to see how things would resolve themselves and found himself rooting for Makoto. Get the girl! Or boy, as the case might be.

And maybe having Gou demand his presence here like that had been nice to hear. Having her insist he be there with her was rather thrilling. In fact he sort of liked it when she bossed him around too. In fact he really, really liked it. When she was forceful he found it really, really exciting.

I'm getting off topic here.

Anyway the biggest pain had been trying to leave the facility before they could even get back home. Nanase had been nowhere to be found and Seijuro could only assume he had completely departed their hosted trip. He must have taken a cab without telling anyone. And of course it had to happen on a day when the host country had decided to do roll call and keep everyone accounted for.

"He wasn't feeling so well," Nagisa had tried explaining once they had noticed Nanase's absence. "So he went home."

The host had been less than accommodating hearing this, not that Seijuro could blame her. It would look awfully bad if one of the students she was in charge of suddenly disappeared. "Who authorized his dismissal?" she had wanted to know and after a few moments of seeing Nagisa struggle, ummming and uhhhing, Seijuro had said he had.

Being in his position gave him a little more clout. He was the one solely in charge of Samezuka, not that the host was any happier hearing that. He received a stern talking to and some heavy scolding, but it was a small price to pay for what Makoto and the rest of Iwatobi had done.

Time and time again they had gone out of their way to conceal his and Gou's secret, despite the fact that it was completely him and Gou's own fault and their own stupid mistake. Iwatobi had nothing to do with it but they still continued to help without asking anything in return. They were really good people and Seijuro owed them quite a bit.

"Oh, looks like things are getting serious," Gou commented and Seijuro raised his head. From around the corner he could hear Makoto's voice. It had risen in volume but Seijuro could not make out the exact words. He leaned over to see around the corner.

Haru and Makoto were standing near the railing facing each other. Makoto was gesturing quite animatedly and the desperation in his voice was palpable. Haru listened, face impassive, saying nothing, and Seijuro didn't think it was going to go in Makoto's favor when suddenly Haru stepped forward. He silenced Makoto's jeremiad most appropriately with his lips.

"Ah," said Nagisa. "Looks like they're making up."

"You mean making out," disputed Rei, face absolutely red.

Gou leaned back against the wall and away from the corner with a giggle. "Looks like everything's alright then!" She clapped her hands together, making Nagisa scold her for being too loud, her bickering back, loudly, that she wasn't being loud.

Better than alright. Seijuro barely restrained the urge to cheer on Makoto. Not only would it blow their cover but Haru would be more than upset being disturbed during such an intimate moment. He might make that pouty face again that Seijuro didn't want to see. Makoto might die of embarrassment too.

He and Gou didn't linger long afterwards. It was late and Makoto and Haru would want to be alone now Seijuro was sure. Nagisa and Rei were a presence they could not do anything about, but him and Gou would be unwanted guests. It was best to skedaddle before they became a nuisance and he insisted they do so.

He was faintly surprised when Gou followed him rather than making her way to the other Iwatobi lodge. He had expected her to stay for the night since she was already conveniently right there but she went with him as if it were the most natural thing in the world for them to go home together.

He was careful to make no comment about it. If he did she might think he was implying he didn't want her to come with him or it might make her realize that she should find it abnormal. He wanted them going together to feel normal and natural, and when something was just so, then there was no comment needed.

Gou seemed to have a bad case of the giggles however. She kept laughing as they made their way down the street. "What is it?" Seijuro asked when she continued giggling.

"Nothing, nothing." She waved a hand. "I'm just…really happy for Makoto and Haruka-senpai I guess. I'm glad it worked out for them."

"Me too."

Makoto had gotten the person he had wanted for a very long time. Good for him. He deserved it.

"And to think that would never have happened if we hadn't gotten married."

He meant it as a joke but right after the words left his mouth he realized how true it was. If they hadn't gotten married Gou's name wouldn't have been changed and Makoto wouldn't have done what he had to try and stop them from calling it out. Who knew how long it would have taken for those two to make a move otherwise. If ever. They could finally stop dancing around each other now.

Gou's smile was gentle. "Yeah," she agreed softly. "You're right."

Seijuro glanced down with a hint of surprise when she moved over to him. Her hand was aligned next to his and when she reached for him, entwining her fingers through his, he was so startled he nearly stopped walking. Thoughts became foreign concepts, his mind deteriorating into a fuzzy white blank. His skin felt like it had caught on fire, becoming so hot he could already feel himself breaking out into a sweat. What if his hand became sweaty? That would totally gross Gou out. She'd never want to hold his hand again.

Suddenly Gou laughed lightly. Her cheeks were slightly pink. "Your face is awfully red," she commented slyly. "Captain."

He grunted in a huffy way, glancing away as he felt the pervasive heat making its way up his skin. Gou had caught him completely off guard and his utter incompetence was so embarrassing. His embarrassment at the situation was embarrassing! He had imagined himself being so much more suave and seductive, but instead he felt like a toddler tripping over his own shoes.

At his reaction Gou laughed. Her hand tightened around his and somehow Seijuro felt himself relaxing. Maybe he was bad with girls but what did that matter? He just had to be good with one, right?

He laced his fingers through hers, pulling her slightly closer, and as he did so it suddenly occurred to him this would be ending soon. A few more weeks and they would be returning home. A few more weeks and it would all be over. In a few weeks he would have to let her go.

He tightened his hold.

He wondered just how exactly was he expected to do that.

I wasn't sure where I wanted to end this so it turned out becoming the longest chapter yet. Yay for closure! And we're starting to get close to the end here so that's always a good thing!

Responses to some things:

Eren - Maybe!