Yay it's finally done! I had the absolute worst writer's block I have ever experienced since I started this fic and so that's partly the reason why this chapter took so long. My apologies! I have also started working again (yay job!)so my free time will be a bit more limited but hopefully the next update won't take as long as this one did.

Also this fic turned a year old last month! I can't believe it. My baby is growing up so fast.

Seijuro rubbed his fingers over his eyes and blinked rapidly. He shook his head as if trying to disperse flies, although it was tiredness he was really trying to disperse. The lack of sleep from last night was getting to him. He knew it would, but he had been too excited and restless to sleep despite knowing he had a hard day of practice ahead of him. And so he had decided to take a break, taking some time to observe his teammates and their progress instead. As captain he was responsible for not only his own performance but others too. It was his duty to make sure absolutely everyone was in their best condition. Because if they didn't win then what was the point?

And, well, it did give him a good excuse to be lazy for a little bit without making a bad impression.

He made his way from the locker room down to the front end of the pool, where the relay team was in the midst of practicing. Ueda and Noro stood several feet back from the pool. They must have just finished their turn, for their hair was dripping wet and Ueda had a towel slung over his shoulders. Nitori was there with them, standing at the very edge of the pool and recording their times. The smaller boy may not be the best swimmer, having lost in the 400m free in the first round, but he was incredibly reliable and diligent when it came to other matters. In some ways he reminded Seijuro of Nakagawa and Gou when it came to his studiousness.

"Hey captain!" Noro greeted him.

"Are you done for the day?" asked Ueda.

"Just taking a break." He stiffened slightly as within his jacket pocket his phone buzzed to life. He knew without looking who the message would be from. Upon first entering the locker room he had texted Gou, not even waiting until he had changed out of his swimming gear to send her one. If he was truly honest with himself texting Gou had been part of the reason why he had decided to get out of the pool early. Because he wanted to talk to her and right now with both of them at their individual practices texting was the best method in which to do so. He was too nervous to carry the phone around the pool with him whilst he was swimming. If he forgot about it and jumped in it'd be ruined, and Gou had bought him this phone. He really didn't want to make a mistake with it because of that.

He was glad Matsuoka was presently in the water doing his turn of the relay. It was unlikely the red head would know who it was Seijuro was texting, or even want to know, but it was best not to take chances. Not that Matsuoka being in the water or not was going to stop Seijuro from bringing the phone out. Seijuro went after the things he wanted and he wanted to talk to Gou. All the time.

He glanced discreetly down at the text. 'We're over at Goro and Ama-chan's for a hot pot'. He blinked. He knew who the 'we' was: her and the Iwatobi boys. And Goro and Amakata were with them too apparently. Maybe he had read that other part wrong? No, the words were definitely hot pot. But why a hot pot in the middle of summer?

Must be one of Sasabe's ideas. Seijuro wouldn't have been surprised if the coach had read about doing such a thing in one of those ludicrous swimsuit magazines he had such a plethora of. Although Seijuro did enjoy looking at the swim suits in those magazines. Not the models, just the swim suits.

A venomous curse brought his attention upwards. The voice was unmistakable and carefully Seijuro crossed his arms, tucking the phone safely away into the crook of them. Matsuoka had finished his run but by his reaction it must not have gone very well.

For a split second Nitori's expression was one of concern and worriment, but he masked it so quickly Seijuro would have missed it if he had blinked. "Matsuoka-senpai, you're doing great!" Nitori said as Matsuoka made his way out the pool, and he spoke so encouragingly and convincingly that Seijuro would have believed he truly meant it if he hadn't been watching before. "We'll easily beat Nanase-kun and his team- "

His words came to a crashing halt as Matsuoka took the towel hanging over his arm and walked off without saying a single word, not acknowledging the boy's presence in the slightest.

Or his fellow relay members. Seijuro didn't miss the raised eyebrow Ueda aimed at Matsuoka's retreating back, nor Ueda's less than pleased expression at the ever loud silence Matsuoka left in his wake. Noro was too busy being lost in his own little world, having not noticed Matsuoka's snub but that was what partly made Noro a strong candidate for the relay. He tended to get along with everyone. But there were others on the relay where Matsuoka's lack of communication would not be a tolerated occurrence.

Seijuro pressed his teeth together. Matsuoka was more on edge than usual. Being frustrated at his lackluster performance was one thing but treating his relay mates with such blatant disregard was concerning. Relays weren't just about personal performance. It was a group effort. Out of everyone Seijuro would have assumed Matsuoka would understood that the best. A sneaking suspicion tickled at the edge of his mind that Matsuoka was somehow focused on something else besides his own relay team.

The phone vibrating in his hand jerked his attention back to the device. Another text from Gou. Two in a row from her and without him responding to her initial response? She had never done that before. And never before had she sent him a text simply to talk to him; there had always been a reason before, like getting into the house or swimming or the training camp.

He tried his best to retain his blank expression, but he could feel the spasms in the corners of his lips as he tried to fight off the smile, eventually having to raise his hand to his mouth like he were blocking a cough for extra protection in case anyone looked over at him.

He read the message, blinked, then read it again to make sure he wasn't mistaken. Nope, he wasn't hallucinating. Iwatobi was having a—

"A barbeque?" Goro's tone was so incredulous Gou could have sliced it with a knife and she looked up from clearing the plates off the table to where everyone sat outside on the porch. Everyone had been quick to retreat out there once they had finished the hot pot to allow it to cool down inside. It had finally done so enough that Gou didn't feel like she was giving herself a shower in her own sweat when she stepped inside.

"You must be joking. We don't have time for something like that."

"Don't be like that, Goro-chan!" Nagisa protested. "We could do the barbeque in the evening! It's not like we're going to be practicing at night."

"Don't give him any ideas!" Rei hissed.

Goro grunted, slightly distracted by Amakata setting down a plate of watermelon slices between them for dessert. If he was distracted more by Amakata or the watermelon Gou didn't know and didn't want to know. "Don't just ask for expensive things."

"Barbeques aren't expensive!"

"Oh, a barbeque?" Amakata questioned, deftly swiping the bowl of watermelon away from Nagisa before he had a chance to devour them all. "What a great idea! We should do that!"

Goro's mouth fell open, like he had just been betrayed or something, and Nagisa let out an exclamation that frightened birds out of the nearby trees.

"Well, it would be a good way to celebrate our departure from this country," said Amakata. "We only have a few weeks left here after all. It'll be a good returning-home event."

Nagisa threw his hands in the air. "Yay, barbeque!"

"It's nothing to get that excited about!" said Rei.

"Who's going to be doing all the shopping for this?" asked Goro. "And don't say me!"

"Rei-chan?"

"Don't just volunteer me!"

"Who's going to cook it all?" asked Goro.

"Rei-chan?"

Rei made a sound like an angry cat in a fight and Gou headed into the kitchen with a grimace. She'd have to be the one to do the shopping most likely. She didn't trust the other boys to do the shopping, outside of Makoto and Rei anyway. If she left it to Haru it would be nothing but mackerel, and if she left it to Goro it would be nothing but pizza. And if she left it to Nagisa…Well, best not to think about it. After the cereal incident she shuddered to think what his barbeque would consist of.

She was glad though. She had wanted a barbeque ever since they had done their week long training camp at the ocean, but instead all she had gotten was nearly drowned and a bad cold. It was about time they had a real barbeque!

She placed the plates into the kitchen sink. It felt a bit weird being back in the kitchen of Amakata and Goro's place. She hadn't been there in a while and thinking back to this being the place she was originally supposed to have lived was a bit odd. She had gotten so used to Seijuro's she couldn't imagine staying anywhere else now. Or with anyone else.

Speaking of which. She pulled out her phone to text Seijuro about the barbeque. She hadn't received a response from him about the hot pot message but that wasn't going to stop her from sending him another one. Lately communicating with him so often and so freely was…kind of nice. It was a far cry from when she had felt like any communication she sent him would bug him.

Snapping her phone closed, she raised her head, noticing for the first time the stack of reading material that had been placed at the edge of the kitchen counter. Goro's swimsuit magazines. If she remembered correctly he had collected the ones out of the boys' lodge. He had been seemingly awfully worried about the boys going through the magazines for some reason. It wasn't like the magazines were that dirty, at least not as far as Gou knew. Maybe Goro was concerned the boys would become too attached to the magazines, like Nitori with that picture. Not that any of the Iwatobi boys appeared to be particularly interested in girls…

There was a strange book sitting amidst the stack of magazines and Gou slid closer to peer at. Along its spine 'Iwatobi Swimming Club' had been crudely written on it. Which meant it was…

She pulled the magazines off, hardly sparing a glance for the pretty ladies adorning the covers, and unearthed the item. She flipped it open and let out a laugh at what she saw. Goro had brought this with him? Out of all the limited items he would be able to bring along on the plane he had chosen this? How nostalgic! Unless he had accidentally mistaken it for one of his swimsuit magazines and grabbed it on accident. Either way she had to show this to the boys.

She brought it out to them, holding it high above her head. "Look what I found!" She proudly displayed her find, too excited to properly register Goro's strangely panicked, "Hey, don't snoop around!" and Amakata's desperate, "W-wait, Gou-chan!" as she walked by them.

"It's a photo album of the swimming club!" Gou announced.

Amakata oddly let out a sigh that sounded like she had just been let off death row while Goro splayed a hand over his chest.

"Ohhh!" Nagisa immediately came closer to look. "Where'd you find that, Gou-chan?"

"It's Coach Sasabe's! And it's Kou!"

"You brought this along with you, Goro-chan? You must really love us!"

"It was intended for motivational purposes!"

Gou lowered the book to the floor and everyone gathered around to take a look. Except for Rei, who peculiarly stood back out of the group.

"Wow, these bring back memories!" Nagisa's gaze darted over the photos like he didn't know where to start. "Look! There's Gou-chan! And Rin-chan!" He pointed to a picture of a much younger Gou clinging to the arm of her much less shark-toothed brother. Rin wasn't exactly smiling in the photo, far too embarrassed having his sister cling to him in front of his friends like that, but he wasn't scowling either. Unlike these days.

Back then before he had come back from Australia with a chip on his shoulder he used to take her hand all the time. Not anymore though.

"This is when we had a barbeque behind the club!" Nagisa pointed to another picture.

Gou peered at the new picture Nagisa had pointed out, somewhat glad for the distraction. Her brow furrowed. "I don't remember that barbeque at all. I don't see brother anywhere either."

"That was before Rin had transferred," Makoto explained. "He wasn't part of the swim team at the time." His eyes lit up and he leaned forward. "This is from the summer tournament when we were in fifth grade, isn't it?"

He pointed and Gou didn't miss how his finger landed on a certain dark haired boy, holding a winners certificate, who never seemed capable of smiling for the camera. She was about to make a comment about Haru's lack of ability to smile when something else in the photo caught her attention and she blinked. In the background, behind the members of the Iwatobi swim club, stood four boys. One of them looked strikingly familiar and she pointed to the figure. "Is that my brother?"

Haru leaned forward to see better the photo she indicated. "We didn't know Rin yet," he said simply as way of explanation and she was unable to determine his mood at all by his tone. He was in better spirits than he had been right after the race against her brother, especially after what had happened between Makoto and him the other night, but when it came to her brother she still didn't know where Haru's feelings lay.

But more interestingly perhaps was that Haru and her brother had been racing each other even before they had properly known each other. That was a little surprising. Maybe the two of them had always been destined to end up competing with the other no matter what they did.

"Oh, this must be where Rin starts showing up." Goro indicated a picture taken during the wintertime. Snow lined the ground and the Iwatobi swim team was lined up together showing off their snowmen. From the looks of it Haru and Makoto had made one together, an arching dolphin. Her brother next to them had made a shark head pointing up from the ground as if breaching. How typical.

"This was when you were training for the tournament," Goro continued. "Rin was really fired up back then."

How typical too. Nothing had ever managed to get Rin's blood flowing so much as competitive swimming did.

The movement of Haru turning his head made her glance up. He was looking at Rei and across his face was that same concerned expression she had seen in the locker room. Come to think of it Rei hadn't said a single word since Gou had brought out the photo album. He had been so quiet she had nearly forgotten he was there. She looked over but was unable to read anything by his expression and she was soon quickly distracted by Nagisa pointing out another photograph. Whatever was going on with Rei would have to wait until later.

It was getting late by the time they finished going through the album and Gou followed the boys to the other lodge to quickly go over their schedule. "Tomorrow night will be the barbeque. I'll do the shopping for it after you guys start practice." That would give her a nice break from running back and forth. Her calves were still sore from that.

"That sounds good. Will you need some help with that?" asked Makoto.

Gou considered. "I'll ask Hana-chan." She hadn't seen the other girl in a while and going grocery shopping would be a convenient way to spend time together and do what she needed to. Kill two birds with one stone. She still needed to invite the girl besides. She looked up in surprise to see the four boys heading to the back door. "Are you guys going somewhere?" It was already pretty late.

Makoto coughed. "We're going to take a walk along the beach." His smile was a little stiffer than usual. "Its such a nice night out."

That it was but now? It was a little late to be going for a stroll when they had practice tomorrow. She opened her mouth to say so when Haru suddenly spoke up. "You should go invite Captain Mikoshiba to the barbeque."

Gou was so stunned by such a direct sentence coming from Haru that she didn't know how to respond to it.

"Make sure you invite Sei-chan, Gou-chan!" Nagisa exclaimed. "Use sexual appeal to get him to come!"

"I'm not going to use that!" Talk about improper word choice. She swallowed. "A-and I already invited him anyway." She tried to ignore the blush creeping up her neck and shot a glare of daggers at the satisfied smirk Nagisa sent her way.

"You should go home and let him know about it then," Haru said and Gou blinked over at him. He was looking at her mildly but underneath his blasé façade she felt something else, like he was holding up a big 'Do not enter' sign. He was trying to be polite but it was pretty clear he didn't want her tagging along on the boys' stroll. Maybe it had something to do with all those concerned looks he had been sending Rei's way?

She didn't know, but it was obvious he didn't want her there and she didn't want to intrude on their personal matters. Her being there might make Rei uncomfortable. If he was going to talk about whatever it was that was bothering he would likely only do it with those he felt the most comfortable, and that would be the Iwatobi boys.

She left them to it and departed for the house, texting Seijuro along the way to see where he was. 'At home' the text read. Good. She had barely seen him all day.

"I'm home."

"Welcome home!" Seijuro was on the couch. A plate of food was in his lap and in his hand he held his phone.

"Were you about to call someone?" His mother? Should I flee? His mother would surely be suspicious hearing some girl enter Seijuro's place of residence and spouting about being home.

But he shook his head. "I was just about to text where you were."

"Oh. Sorry, I was almost home so I figured I'd just walk in." She took a seat next to him, squinting at the TV. On the screen a man in a yellow jumpsuit was inching along some sort of vine infested scaffold towards some weird boxes attached to it. "What are you watching?"

"I'm not sure. I think it's some sort of reality TV show where they have to disarm bombs in a certain amount of time."

"R-really?" Bombs? She looked back at the screen. Well, that would explain those little boxes. But what happened if the contestant failed, she wondered. This country has some really haphazard ideas.

"There was nothing else on. I still haven't been able to find that movie you talked about. 'Girls Who Scream Bloody Murder.'" Seijuro frowned in disappointment.

Gou managed to fight off her laugh. He was still looking for that darn thing and she almost felt a bit of pity for him on his endless search for something that didn't exist. Maybe one day she'd show him. On a special occasion, like his birthday or something. She was sure he'd appreciate that.

"When are you guys going to have this barbeque?" he asked her.

"Tomorrow night. I'm going shopping for it tomorrow afternoon."

"Canned mackerel and pineapple?"

An old joke now. She shuddered. "I never want to see that stuff again. That's exactly why I'm the one going shopping. It would be a mess if I left it up to those boys." A thought occurred to her then. "You could invite some Samezuka members if you like. I'm sure we'll have enough food."

"Maybe." He shot a sidelong glance at her. "Are you planning on inviting your brother?"

"My brother?" She hadn't even thought of inviting him. Should she? She took a long moment to consider that. "No, I don't think I will."

"Is it because of the uhhhh…"

It took a second for her to realize what he meant. The marriage. "Oh, no. Not because of that." She shrugged. "It's just…I know he wouldn't come so…" So why even bother inviting him?

Seijuro didn't respond to that. He was looking to the wall, face a little grim, his fork a few inches off his plate.

"Something wrong?"

"No, no, it's nothing." He held out his plate to her. "Want some?"

"What is it?"

"Pasta salad."

It did look good, but she had eaten so much of that hot pot... "No, thank you. I'm stuffed."

She stayed in the living room to watch TV for a bit, genuinely curious to see what would happen if a contestant failed disarming the bombs in time. Surely they wouldn't allow someone to blow up on TV, would they? Then again in this country there's really no telling.

As she lay there she couldn't help but wonder about the boys again. Hopefully whatever was going on would be solved and they would be back to their usual joyful antic selves tomorrow. She didn't like thinking there was discord among them and didn't want them to be troubled during the barbeque.

Still she had faith they would be able to solve whatever it was. They were a team after all.

Just like she had faith they would be able to bring back the boy Rin used to be.

She blinked lazily. Her eyelids were dragging as she grew sleepier. She moved her arms more securely around Seijuro's pillow and stretched out, her legs having become cramped from being curled up for too long. Her feet brushed against Seijuro's side. Under normal circumstances she might have jerked back with an apology, but as it were she was too tired to really care.

Besides, his warmth against her skin was rather relaxing. She had always enjoyed his warmth. He had always been warm.

Her heart sped up when he laid his arm along her legs. His elbow came to lie at her ankles and his hand lightly around her calf. She looked discreetly over at his face, but he hadn't even glanced her way, eyes still glued to the TV as if his action had been done completely unconsciously and not purposely. She wasn't sure if she believed that or not.

She swallowed, fighting the surge of self-consciousness that sang through her. The feel of his hand - his large very warm hand - on her in a rather intimate way was making her mind race to dangerous places. Like that night at the hotel room.

Don't think of something dirty, you pervert! Maybe her brother had been right about her when he had made that joke about big feet and she hadn't thought of big shoes…

It took a few minutes for her to calm down, her heartbeat gradually slowing down to a much more normal pace and her self-consciousness subsiding. As she grew more comfortable so did her sleepiness and she soon found herself having a very hard time keeping her eyes open. She closed them. I'll just rest them for a bit…

She was awoken by a hand shaking her leg. A large warm familiar hand and a familiar voice. "Hey."

The noise she made in response was somewhere between a groan and a grunt and she blinked open her gritty eyes. She rolled onto her back, letting out another groan and rubbing her hands across her face.

"Sorry," she slurred. "I fell asleep." She hadn't even realized she had drifted off and her feet for some reason were laying on something that was a little too overly warm to be the couch. She slit open an eye underneath her hand to see they had landed up in Seijuro's lap. Oops. She was too sleep addled to properly care at the moment. "How long was I asleep for?"

"Not too long," Seijuro informed her. Beyond him she could see the black screen of the now silent TV. He must have recently turned it off. "You should head to bed. Big day tomorrow."

"Yeah," she yawned around her words. "The barbeque." She struggled to get herself onto her elbow and her feet to the floor, hoisting herself off the couch with an enormous amount of effort. Honestly getting up after taking a nap should be an Olympic sport.

"Have a good night," Seijuro called after her.

"Night," she grunted back.

It was only once she had sat down on the bed that it suddenly occurred to her. Seijuro could have easily just taken the bed for himself and left her there on the couch. Instead he had woke her up to allow her to take the much more comfortable bed while he remained there.

A small smile spread across her face, warmth infusing her at the thought. That idiot.

But then again he had always paid special attention to her, hadn't he? Ever since she had first met him he had always been like that.

She just wished he would think of himself first sometimes.

The moon was bright and full overhead as Gou dumped the last of the plastic cups into the garbage can. I think that's it. She brushed off her hands, turning to inspect the area. All that was left was to wipe down everything, which Yuko and Yuka were already working on, and inside Amakata and Hana were finishing washing up the cooking utensils. Good! Gou was already sick of cleaning.

This was the deal they had made with the boys for the barbeque. The boys had cooked everything and the girls had cleaned afterwards. But Gou hadn't considered how messy they all could be when first initiating the agreement. Nagisa had spilled more punch than he had actually drank, Goro had used way too much lighter fluid on the grill and caused soot to get everywhere, and Haru had insisted on cooking in his swimming trunks, leading the four young womens' motor skills to degenerate into that of a young toddlers. Not to mention how passing so much food around so many people had caused quite a mess on the table. It had taken quite a while to clean up.

Still, all the excellent food and excellent company had made it all worthwhile. It had been a merry meal of chaos and jubilation and Gou was glad that not only had Hana been able to attend but Yuko and Yuka as well. It had been nice having other girls around to socialize with.

And seeing Seijuro cook on the grill had been strangely enticing to watch. More than a little enticing. Gou had had a bad case of the vapors and had to fan herself just watching him. Maybe she should buy a grill for their house. One for him to cook on every night. She didn't care if he even bothered to make anything edible so long as she just got to watch him cook on the thing.

Although trying to explain his presence to Yuko and Yuka when he had first arrived had been more than a little nerve wracking. The two girls were familiar enough with the Iwatobi boys to know who they were and Seijuro stuck out like a sore thumb. Thankfully Amakata had come to Gou's rescue, the teacher telling the girls Seijuro was a friend of the boys, and Yuka and Yuko had accepted that without question. Gou could have kissed her.

Speaking of good things to watch. Gou maneuvered over to the table, mindlessly picking up a sponge and moving it back and forth so it would look like she was cleaning. The boys had found a football inside the closet with the camping gear and shortly after eating they had taken it to play on the beach. They hadn't managed to put together a football game, all of them having been too busy disagreeing with each other, and instead they had settled on simply tossing it around. Not that that wasn't fun to watch. Gou was rather enjoying the view. So many muscles…

Apparently Yuka was just as enthralled for she suddenly commented, "Tachibana-san is pretty cute."

Gou turned her head to hide her laughter. Makoto it seemed could be quite popular with the ladies. Too bad there was only one certain person he wanted and that person wasn't exactly very feminine. Makoto was going to leave quite a few broken hearts in his wake.

"Mikoshiba-san is really cute too," said Yuko.

That wasn't so funny. Gou's smile melted like butter.

"I wonder if he has a girlfriend."

Gou's eyes narrowed venomously, her hand tightening around the sponge so forcefully it soaked her fingers.

"N-now, now." Amakata's laughter was unusually high. "L-let's hurry and finish up now, girls." She clapped her hands. "Does anyone have some paper towels?"

"Here, sensei! I have them!" Hana propelled a roll into the hands of each of the girls and aimed a wink at Gou over their heads.

Gou shook off her hand, finding herself strangely blushing. Amakata and Hana were being a bit over the top in their intervention considering there was no danger of Yuko and Yuka finding out about the marriage. It wasn't like Seijuro and her were actually together or anything…

They washed the last of the dirty dishes and counters, and then moved to head outside to join the boys.

"Gou-chan." Amakata held out a small plastic bag to her. "Will you take these out to the boys please?"

Gou took the bag, peering at the long thin shapes. "What is it?"

"Fireworks."

"Fireworks?"

Amakata sighed. "Goro bought them right before the first race but forgot about them. I thought the boys might enjoy them, and it would be best to use them now before Goro gets any other crazy ideas to use them for."

Fireworks! Gou stared at the bag. Good going, Goro! The boys were sure to enjoy them and the girls too. She brought them out immediately and showed it to the others.

"Woah!" Seijuro's and Nagisa's eyes lit up like she had just presented them with a huge birthday gift.

"Fireworks!"

"I used to play with these when I was younger!" Seijuro's voice was loud.

"Gou-chan where did you get them?!"

"Ama-chan gave them to me!" she answered. "And it's Kou!"

Goro frowned at the fireworks. "Those look oddly familiar."

Gou pretended she hadn't heard him.

She held the bag as the others dug in. The fireworks were quickly passed around and it wasn't long before all of them had one of the sticks sparking in their hands. Nor was it long before Nagisa proceeded to chase poor Rei around with one of them, yelling for Rei to look at it and Rei shouting back for Nagisa to not point it at him. The antics between the two were a bit of a relief to see. Gou had been more than a little worried when Rei had mysteriously not shown up for practice that morning. Rei was nothing if not diligent and he had he never missed practice before. His sudden absence, especially so close to a competition and without any warning, was very out of character for him. Nagisa had claimed it was food poisoning from some spoiled ice cream, but as Goro had pointed out ice cream couldn't spoil.

Maybe it had something to do with that walk down the beach the boys had taken last night? Gou didn't know. She was still fairly convinced Haru had given Rei some bad mackerel, despite Haru's denial he had given the other boy anything.

Regardless of the real reasoning behind Rei's absence, Gou had left halfway through practice to go get supplies for tonight and hadn't know what else had happened. She was aware the boys had called it an early day to go check on Rei.

And maybe a big part of why they had called practice early was because it felt weird for the three of them to be swimming without him. If Rei wasn't there then they were no longer a team. She hoped Rei recognized that. And if he didn't before she hoped he did now.

Although Nagisa's casual proclamation that the melon bread they had bought Rei as a gift well gift had nearly killed Haru had been a little confusing. If the boys were putting themselves in mortal danger simply by eating bread then there was no hope for them and Gou would only worry herself that much faster into an early grave. All these boys really will be the death of me.

Nagisa came running over to her, disturbing her out of her thoughts, and Gou held out the bag for him to dig through.

"Sei-chan!"

Gou grimaced as he went off towards Seijuro. Hopefully he wouldn't try and chase the Samezuka captain around with it. Not that she could imagine Seijuro running away from anything. But the two only fell into loud exclamations about their sparklers and waving them around like they were magic wands or something.

A few yards off were Yuka, Yuko, and Hana, the three girls gathered in a loose circle around each other, holding their sparklers close together and chatting amongst themselves. Goro and Amakata had remained on the porch together, more interested in a glass of wine and some quiet time alone while the teenagers were distracted. Well, a glass of beer in Goro's case. A can of beer.

Haru and Makoto were next to each other by the others, close enough to not exclude themselves but enough away that they could talk quietly to each other in their own little world. Haru touched his unlit sparkler to Makoto's, lighting it that way own rather than going to get the lighter. It was rather endearing and considering how their relationship had come blindly crashing together, it was good to see they were doing well despite that. Just like she had been concerned about Rei's welfare she had been concerned about Makoto and Haru as well and if their relationship could work once receiving such a violent shove forward.

Then again in order to light a fire you need a spark. Makoto had delivered just that the day at the plant. If for not that then they may never have been able to move forward.

If there is at least one good thing that has come out of this whole situation then it's that.

"Have you lit any yet?"

She looked up in surprise to find Seijuro next to her. He must have somehow escaped Nagisa's clutches. She moved the bag in her hands. "Not yet. I've been holding the bag."

He waved his nearly finished one in the air. "You ever played with these before?"

"Of course! Back when I was younger we used to play with them. My brother and me—" She paused at the sudden memory. Funny. It had been so long ago she had nearly forgotten. Back before Rin had gone off to Australia and come back nearly a different person. Back when he used to take her hand. But that was all gone and over with now. "A-anyway we used to play with them all the time."

His sparkler died out and he tossed away the remains. "Here." He reached for the bag and took it from her, handing her one of the fireworks and a lighter from his pocket a moment later.

Gou struggled to light the thing, the wind continually blowing out the lighter before the sparkler could become lit. "It's not working," she grumbled.

"Let me try." Seijuro took it. He ran his thumb down the wheel and Gou leaned in, coming in closer to use his body as a shelter to block the wind, her shoulder nearly pressed against his chest. The close proximity reminded her once more of how warm his skin could be. Like a cozy fire she could curl into. And maybe she already had. She could barely recall that bus ride back from the sawgrass park, having been so tired, but faintly she could remember waking up to warmth and arms. And a feeling of cherishment.

Her sparkler finally caught and she jerked back at the sudden shower of light.

"Ha, there!" Seijuro crowed in triumph. "See, all you need is a spark."

Gou faltered at the words, nearly stumbling in the sand at the familiarity of them. Could it be…But she hadn't even said anything. She shook her head. It was nothing more than a coincidence.

"I'm glad your friends got to come," said Seijuro as Gou drew letters in the air. "It was nice being able to meet them."

"Yeah, I'm glad they got to come too." So long as Yuko keeps her hands to herself anyway. And her eyes. And her words. Actually just everything. Gou's letters became a little more jagged. She drew a G followed by a K. "Did you not invite any Samezuka members by the way?"

"I didn't."

"Really?" That was unexpected. She drew a S in the air. "Why not?"

There was a half moment of silence, the only sound that of the waves and their companions chatting quietly in the distance, and Gou's sparkler showering its glitter into a cascade of tiny falling stars.

"Because then I wouldn't have been able to be with you."

Gou's sparkler froze in the midst of writing out an E. She opened her mouth, closed it, looked around as if trying to find answers in the sand and water. Her face grew so hot she would likely make the ocean boil if she walked into it. She had no idea what to say and her brain was scrambling desperately to remember it still functioned and that she should say something in return that wasn't incredibly awkward. "Y-you would have been able to have done that anyway!" Her voice was more like a croak. "Yuko and Yuka are here."

The corner of his mouth twitched. He looked off to the side and Gou thought she saw a hint of red on his cheeks. It was hard to tell with only the light from the tiny sparkler in her hand.

"It isn't the same," he said simply.

It took her a moment but Gou thought she understood a bit of what he meant. If he had brought along one of his swim team members it would have been hard for the two of them to be around each other and away from the others. The two of them alone would have naturally caused curiosity and with Rin on the swim team curiosity was a bad thing. But Yuko and Yuka were a bit safer. Because they didn't know Seijuro and most importantly they didn't know Rin either. It would be much harder for Rin to hear anything, even a slip, from those two.

"I-I see." She coughed to loosen her tight throat. Her heart was hammering in her breast and she looked about herself, seeking a distraction to take away some of her nervousness. She coughed again. "It really is a pretty night out."

"I can think of something prettier."

Gou's heartbeat was so loud it was nearly like a buzzing in her ear. She feigned ignorance. "The moon?"

Seijuro hummed. It was a low rumble that vibrated somewhere deep in Gou's chest, traveling up her neck and making her whole body do some sort of weird stiff quivering. She shook herself, trying not to look like some sort of perverted idiot as she did so.

"Something a little closer."

She looked out across the beach to where the moon glittered on the waves, making the water look like it were made of silver. "The ocean?"

He snorted. "After what happened last time in the ocean definitely not."

She laughed a little at that remark and that helped relax her. A near death experience wasn't exactly the most romantic or beautiful of excursions she had to agree. "T-thank you by the way."

The strange words made him look questionably up.

She shifted on her feet and jerked her hand away when she accidentally brought the sparkler too close to her legs. "I-I mean for saving my life." She shook her smarting hand. "I know I've said it before but I guess I just…I felt like I should say it again. If you hadn't shown up when you had…" She couldn't bring herself to finish that. She swallowed. Her fingers tightened around the sparkler. "Thank you for being there," she finished quietly.

There was a long moment of silence. "You don't have to thank me for that."

Gou's brows furrowed. That was an odd thing for him to say. "Why not?"

The sparkler tapered and then went out, bathing them both in only the muted light from the porch. She could see his outline but not his expression, and when he stepped towards her she tilted her head back slightly to keep his face in view. When he placed his hand underneath her chin, slowly, slowly, she didn't move away, and when he tilted her face up further she remained where she was as though she were rooted to the spot.

He kissed her.

This kiss wasn't like before. This wasn't like the first time when he had been more direct and thorough. He had been trying to prove something back then. This was something that was more delicate. This was gentler, softer, like a whisper against her flesh, a bare touch that was almost hardly a touch at all. Something that was precious and treasured. Cherished.

It lasted only a few seconds and then Seijuro leaned back. His hand fell away.

"That's why," he said.

He moved to walk around her, heading back to the house, and she turned to keep him sight. His figure approaching caught Nagisa's attention right away and within seconds the blond was calling out his name.

Gou turned back towards the ocean. She pushed her wayward hair out of her face.

She didn't understand what he meant. Not at all.

But against her lips she felt his touch, his warmth, and in her heart a glow she had not known before.

She hoped it lasted forever.

I am guesstimating but there will likely only be about 5-6 chapters left for this fic depending on the length and how I decide to break up chapters now! We're finally getting close to the ending! Yay closure!

Also a big thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed! You guys have really given me the motivation to keep up with this fic considering how much longer it has taken to get through then I had originally planned. Thank you guys so much!

Responses!

Darksknight - I had no comprehensible idea how to describe that noise until now! I laughed so hard when I first read this review that I nearly cried. Its definitely one of my favorite reviews I've ever received haha.

JustJolola - I play Sims 3! I don't think I'll be switching to Sims 4 anytime soon. I usually like to wait until the price drops down a bit and for more content to be released. Plus my desktop (my preferred gaming computer) already has trouble running Sims 3 so I can't imagine it would be very good for Sims 4. But one day I assume I'll get it!

MusicalHeartstrings - It made me really happy to see you're still reading this fic! I thought you might have gotten bored haha. Thank you so much *cries a river*

LupaCaerula - I pretty much flailed the entire time I read this review. I really, really am grateful to those who have stuck with this fic since the beginning considering how long it is, how long its taking to finish, and how long it takes for me to get updates out sometimes. It really means a lot to me. Thank you so much!

Guest - I started this fic long before Sousuke ever made an appearance, otherwise I would have likely paired Rin and Sousuke! As it is I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Rin pairing wise. Honestly he has so many other problems the last thing he should be thinking about is hooking up with someone haha.