Aka: I don't know what I'm doing with my life anymore.

Sort of AUish. Takes place roughly after episode 5 when Rin is still being a butt to everyone but Rei has joined the team and knows how to swim.


Water.

Water everywhere, as far as the eye could see.

Sparking, undulating water like a mirror someone had spilled golden paint on. Ribbons of cloud passed by, swirls of white in the golden reflection. The sun was rising.

Gou sighed and pulled the plastic down over the window, leaning back into her seat. She was sick of looking at water. Besides the water, the inside of the cabin was all she had been able to see for the past ten some odd hours.

In the seat next to her Miho Amakata stirred. Her arm moved and her hand flung out, coming dangerously close to smacking Gou in the face. It wouldn't be the first time. Amakata flopped around in her sleep like an overactive three year old. Carefully Gou took the hand and placed it by Amakata's head.

The cabin was very quiet, only the occasional cough, snort, or slight snore ushering from the occupants. The majority of people were sleeping. Even the stewards had retired to some hidden space to catch some shut eye.

In the seat in front of her Gou could see Nagisa's blond head resting on Rei's shoulder and Rei's head atop the smaller boy's. The two were most certainly conked out. Like sleeping Amakata, Nagisa was like an overactive three year old when wake. Gou couldn't recall how many times Rei had scolded him for something, not that it stopped Nagisa. Gou wouldn't have been surprised if Nagisa did it on purpose.

In the seat in front of the two were Makoto and Haru. Gou hadn't seen or heard much from them. A good thing likely. When they had started flying over the ocean, Haru had promptly crawled over Makoto into the aisle and begun disrobing, intent on swimming in the ocean somehow. Who knew what plan of action Haru had planned to take to get out of the plane. He likely hadn't thought that far himself.

They would have been kicked off f they weren't already in the air. As it was Makoto had been forced to sedate Haru. Haru didn't do well in closed spaces to begin with and he had never flown before. He had moved around elentlessly, standing up in his seat and getting scolded multiple times by the stewards. Makoto had had no choice but to sedate him. It was for the best for all on board.

If Gou leaned far enough to the side she could see Haru's black hair and his head leaning against the wall. If she stretched herself up far enough she could see Makoto's spiky hair over his seat. Both sleeping.

Across the aisle from her and Amakata sat Coach Goro Sasabe. He had been quiet most of the trip, except for when he had been yelling at Haru when the teen had started flinging off clothes, content to sit in his seat and read swimsuit magazines. Like the others he too was now sleeping, one of the swimsuit magazines splayed across his lap. Gou glared at its glossy surface, wondering how dirty the material was inside.

Sighing again, she leaned back once more. She had gotten very little sleep. Sleeping in this sort of atmosphere was hard for her and it seemed like anytime she did manage to drift into slumber Amakata would plant her hand in Gou's cheek. She had given up after awhile and listened to her IPod but it had run out of juice about two hours ago. Looking out the window had only amused Gou for so long and she was finding herself growing more and more bored. She wished someone was awake for her to talk to and she entertained the idea of waking up Amakata but decided against it. The teacher needed all the sleep she could get. Who knew what sort of chaos they would encounter once they landed.

Landed. Gou hoped that was soon. She had forgotten to bring a watch with her and she hadn't bothered to use her cell phone so she could only guess how long they had been flying for. Probably somewhere close to twelve hours. Six more hours to go. Or was it ten?

Gou sighed for the third time and wondered not for the first time how they ended up doing this.


It had been Nagisa's idea. Nagisa was normally the one who thought up such schemes and he had approached this one with the same exuberance he did everything else with.

"See, this is where it's at." He pointed to a country close to Italy. "Right here."

Gou frowned as she looked over the map pinned to the wall. "I don't think that's right. I think it's over here." She pointed to a country close to Brazil.

Rei snorted, a snort that clearly said 'you're both wrong.' He pointed to a country way in the north by Russia. "It's here."

"D-does it really matter where it is? I mean…" Makoto looked over the pamphlet in his lap. "It says here that's been a private entity for the last forty years and it has not had international relations with any country in that time. Not even its neighbors."

"Yes, yes, Mako-chan!" Nagisa grabbed the pamphlet out of his lap. "But it also says the country is trying to strengthen its relations and is inviting schools from all over the world to stay there for the summer in a program of friendly competition!"

Makoto rubbed his chin. "A whole summer is a long time to be in a different country," he mused. "A different country that hardly anyone knows anything about."

That was true. They had tried asking Amakata about it but she had only blinked and said she wasn't a geography teacher. She had never heard of the country. Rei hadn't known anything either but he said he would memorize the formula for it, whatever that had meant.

"They'll provide lodging and pay for the air flight to and from the country," said Rei, reading over Nagisa's shoulder. "They are also offering free tours of landmarks and important attractions so the students who do participate can learn more about the country." He pushed his glasses further onto his face. "It is…not a bad deal."

"They're also offering a 5,000 dollar award to the swimming team that wins their competition!" said Nagisa.

Makoto's eyebrow twitched. Gou could read it in his eyes. A 5,000 dollar award. That would solve all their financial problems. They had been struggling for funds since starting the club and they had not been able to deliver any accomplishments that might raise their funding as of yet. But 5,000 dollars? They would be set for the whole year if not longer.

"What does Ama-chan say about this?"

"Ama-chan said travelers repose and dream among leaves. I think she was quoting someone but I forgot who." Rei frowned. "I cannot be certain if that was a yes or not."

"She's probably waiting to hear what we decide," said Gou. She paused a moment, wondering if she should say it then plowed ahead. "Brother's school is going too."

"Rin-chan will be there?!"

Gou nodded. "He mentioned it my mother and I last week. The captain of his swim team thought it sounded interesting and would make a good presentation on their school." She didn't follow that with that her brother was hardly around anyway so him leaving for another country for the summer wouldn't change anything. That was best kept to herself she felt.

She sneaked a peek at where Haru sat in the chair of the desk Makoto was sitting on, but the dark haired teen was looking at some spot on the wall. She couldn't tell what he was thinking at hearing the news that her brother would be there.

Makoto rubbed the back of his head. "What do you think, Haru?"

Haru closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "It sounds like too much effort."

"Oh, look at this!" Nagisa waved the pamphlet in the air. "The country boasts they have the largest swimming pool in the world!"

A moment later the pamphlet was snatched out of Nagisa's hand. Haru stood with the paper stretched out before him, staring at it as if he had found the fountain of youth.

Makoto laughed a little. "Looks like we're going."


Amakata had agreed to the trip somehow. Even Goro had when the idea had been pitched to him, saying he needed a vacation. It was nice having two adults with them. Gou liked Amakata quite a bit but the teacher could be a little ditsy at times and it was an awful lot for one person to manage. Having Goro there to help would help lighten the burden on the poor literature teacher.

So here they were, on a plane flying across the ocean to some country that not had relations with any other country until now. Once their school had been accepted into the program, Rei had done some research on where they were going. Apparently it had been a dictatorship up until about ten years when the dictator had finally been toppled and a democracy had taken its place. Since then the country had been working on its human rights, infrastructure, and economy, and was trying to open up relations and communications with foreign nations. The program they were now a part of was one of those efforts.

Other clubs from the school had been invited as well, although most were not as long as the swimming program. Gou's friend Hana would be arriving a few weeks from now with the debate team for example, and Gou had heard the art team would be joining them as well. Gou had been happy to hear that. It would be nice to have a female friend there with her for at least part of the summer.

Gou rubbed her hands together, nerves pricking up her arms, and hoped this trip would be worth it.


When the plane finally did land, Gou nearly ran over two small children to get off. As it was it took nearly an hour. Haru was slow and sluggish, some after effects of the sedative, and Makoto had to nearly carry him and all their bags off the plane. It was no easier in the terminal. Nagisa kept trying to run off to look at stuff and Haru kept asking where the pool was.

This is like herding cats.

Thankfully Rei had bothered to learn a little of the local language and was able to find out where they needed to go to pick up the rest of their bags. As they stood there waiting for the carousel to come around, Gou looked about herself. There was a mix of different ethnicities everywhere. Schools from all over the world had come to participate in the program. She couldn't tell who was foreigner and who was local.

The orientation for the program would begin very shortly. As Gou understood their flight had been one of the last flights over. Most of the other schools had gotten here yesterday or the day before.

A flash of a black jacket caught her eye and she turned to try and find the golden letters of the Samezuka Academy but the person was around the corner before she could know for sure. Had her brother and his school landed already? She had no way of knowing and her phone wasn't currently working. They would have to get new temporary phones to use.

Where are you, brother?

"Gou-chan," Amakata called and Gou turned her attention back to the present, doing her best to push thoughts of her brother out of her mind for now.


It wasn't until the end of orientation that she finally saw him.

The orientation was long and boring, Gou found herself dozing off in her chair. Amakata and Goro were doing the same next to her, but Nagisa, Rei, and Makoto were paying rapt attention. Gou tried her best to rouse herself, reminding herself that she was the swim team's manager. She had to pay attention. To plan things. Yes. Plan things. That's what she did. Her eyelids drooped as the person at the podium drowned on.

She looked across at Haru, who was awake as the others, but not paying attention to the person speaking in the least. His eyes were on the crowd, scanning the rows of seated students. He's looking for Rin. She smiled a little.

Once the presentation was over, they received their housing assignments, and began to make their way to the front to hail down some cabs. They were almost to the front when Ghou finally spotted him standing near the bathrooms with a shorter gray haired boy that she vaguely remembered as Nitori. "Brother!"

At the sound of her voice he looked up. "Gou?" His mouth fell open a bit. "What are you doing here?"

She stopped in front of him, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. For some reason whenever she saw her brother she always felt like a little girl again, happy and carefree. "We're here for the program! We decided to join it!"

"The program?" He blinked then his eyes cleared, and he made a tch sound. "The swimming program. I'm guessing that means Haru is here too then."

Gou stopped rocking. "Uh, y-yes. The whole swim club came."

Rin's mouth was set in a firm line and Gou could see him glaring over her head. Gou glanced behind herself. Haru. Rin was glaring at Haru. Nitori asked, "What's wrong, sempai?"

Rin didn't get a chance to answer as Nagisa suddenly surged in beside Gou, planting himself right into their conversation. "Rin-chan! I'm so glad you're here! We'll be able to swim together again!" He made that weird peace sign he always liked doing. "Let's have fun all summer!"

Rin grit his teeth. It appeared as if he were about to say something nasty but he didn't get a chance to, "Hey, Matsuoka! Let's go!"

Gou recognized that voice. She had heard it several times before. "Captain Mikoshiba…

The Captain of the Samezuka Academy, Mikoshiba. Ghou didn't know his first name. He was dressed in the Samezuka colors and his expression was bored until he caught sight of her. His eyes, that strange gold color, lit up like lampposts. "Ah, yo! Fancy meeting you here!" He smiled at her. "Are you here for the program as well, Gou-kun?"

Gou's smiled faded. Her eyelids lowered. "Please don't use Gou and kun together…"

Rin glanced Haru's way again and made another tch sound. He walked away without comment. Nitori followed him and Gou might have done the same had Mikoshiba not started talking to her. "I can't believe you're part of the program, Gou-kun! Matsuoka never mentioned it before. That's great, how exciting! We can swim together then!"

Gou was hardly listening, trying to look at her brother from around the captain. "Ah, yes."

"Hey, hey, you know later tonight after we get everyone settled in we'll be going to take a look around the town!" His smile was so wide it nearly split his face in two. "You should come with us, Gou-kun."

Now that did catch her attention. "What?"

"We'll be checking out the downtown area," Mikoshiba continued. "You should come with us to learn more about the area!"

"A-ah, maybe…"

"Ooooh, checking out the area?!" Nagisa's eyes were bright. "That sounds like a great idea! We should go together!"

"It wouldn't hurt to check out things," Makoto agreed, walking forward to join the conversation. He was the captain of their swim team after all. "We will be here for three months. We should get to know the area."

"Exactly, you should definitely come! All of you are welcome!" Someone called out to Mikoshiba, indicating they were ready, and the Samezuka captain waved in acknowledgement. "Be right there!" Turning back to Gou, Mikoshiba smiled once again. "Meet us at the Jurrian at 8! See you later!" He walked off towards the rest of his swim team with a wave.

"Okay!" said Nagisa, waving back despite the fact Mikoshiba had his back to him and couldn't see it.

"Well, it looks like we'll have some company later on tonight." He rubbed the side of his face. "I'm-I'm sure it won't turn out badly."

Next to him Haru just sighed.


Eight o'clock rolled around faster than Gou would have liked. After going to their housing assignments, two houses with two bedrooms each (due to being a smaller school and a swim team without any accomplishments they were expected to share bedrooms) and unpacking, Nagisa had immediately coerced the others into going downtown. Haru had been resistant at first, only relenting when Makoto said they could check out the pool that was close to the downtown area.

Amakate and Goro had opted to stay in. Amakata had a lot of luggage to unpack and Goro was exhausted. The two adults advised the teens to behave and not stay out too late, but had not given them any instruction outside of that. Either the two adults trusted them or were too tired to care at the moment.

Ghou tried to protest against going to, but Nagisa pointed out that Samezuka's Captain had invited her and Makoto pointed out that Rin would likely be there. Her brother. She wanted to see him again. It was silly, how much she worried about him. But she did. His smile got taken away. Now all he is anger and frustration. But she kept these thoughts to herself. She didn't want to disturb Haru. She didn't know what had happened between the two but she knew Haru felt responsible for it in someway.

The downtown area was busy and packed with people. All of the students participating in the program seemed to have wanted to go out that night despite the jet lag and exhaustion. There were teens everywhere. And lots of swimmers with swimmer bodies. Even fully dressed Gou couldn't help but ogle some of them. It was really unfair that there was so many of them running around together. It was almost like sensory overload.

"Here, here!" Nagisa waved them over. "Here it is!"

The Jurrian. Makoto stood, looking up at it and studying it. His face began to turn a weird shade of purple. "T-this is a bar, Nagisa."

"Yes, yes," said Nagisa as if he had known all along.

Haru pointed out the obvious. "We can't get in then."

"Sure we can." The grin on Nagisa's face was positively devilish. "It's not like back home! The drinking age here is only sixteen!"

There was a moment of stunned silence. "H-how could you possibly know that?" asked Gou.

"Rei-chan told me!"

Rei's face was red as he pushed his glasses further upwards. "I-I didn't tell him because of that," he stuttered.

Suddenly the huge crowds of young people made so much more sense. Most of them had probably found out about the drinking age and had come out to drink themselves silly. Is that why Amakata-san and Goro let us go out? Gou's eyebrows lowered. How irresponsible. Then another thought crossed her mind. Is that what Samezuka is planning to do? Is that what brother is planning to do?

"Let's go!" Nagisa was practically dancing his way up the steps, Rei trailing after scolding him about the dangers of running up stairs. It little oddly Haru followed after them willingly. Perhaps he was curious to taste what liquor was like.

Makoto's face was still a strange shade of purple. "I-I guess it couldn't hurt right?" He laughed uncomfortably. "Just a little drink, right?"

Gou asked, "Are you trying to convince me or yourself?"

Makoto didn't answer. He just swallowed and began making his way up the stairs like he was walking to his own hanging.

The inside of the bar was crowded. Actually more like packed. There was so many people in there it felt like the temperature had risen ten degrees. Gou didn't think there had been this many people at the airport for God's sake. And so many swimmers. The heat was making them sweat and the sweat was making their clothes stick to their bodies like a second skin. So many muscles So many biceps and pecs. Had she died and gone to swimmer heaven? She shook her head. Remember what you're here for, Gou, she thought and began to look for her brother, doing her best to ignore the shapely triceps that were abound in the area.

Nagisa made his way to the bar and somehow managed to squeeze in between two people. He began yelling out names of drinks to the bartender, who had either never heard of them before or Nagisa was simply making them up. "Don't ask for things that don't exist!" scolded Rei, then with a noise of bereavement, tried to coax an actual drink from Nagisa that he did like.

Haru was studying the board of drinks overhead like it were a math quiz. "I'll have a blue ocean."

Gou made a face. "Are you just ordering that because it has the word ocean in it?"

Haru didn't answer, not that she expected him to. Haru reminded her a lot of a phone that took voice commands. If you gave it a question or command it recognized it would answer instantly, but if you said something to it it didn't recognize you would only get silence. Makoto normally understood these silences from Haru but right now he was too busy staring at the board like it was making him seasick.

"Gou-kun!"

Gou raised her head at the calling of her name. Her real name. Call me Kou, damnit.

In a far corner of the bar Mikoshiba was waving to her. The Samezuka swimmers seemed to have obtained a round couch all to themselves. How long have then been here to obtain that, wondered Gou then decided she'd rather not know. She didn't see her brother among them either. Hopefully he wasn't busy being sick in the bathroom.

"I-I guess we could go over there," said Makoto. He was sweating profusely but Gou didn't think it was because of the heat.

Gou hummed in agreement. She may not see her brother but that didn't mean he wasn't there. Him and Nitori might have stepped outside for a moment. Besides, having a couch to sit on rather than standing among all these packed bodies sounded like a much better alternative.

Once Nagisa, Rei, and Haru had gotten their drinks (Gou noting with amusement that Haru's drink really did look like water), they made their way over to the Samezuka group. Mikoshiba had that smile on again that split his face. "Gou-kun, I'm so glad you could make it!"

"Thanks." She gave him a little smile then turned her attention to trying and locate her brother. She didn't even see Nitori anywhere, and he always seemed be attached to her brother's hip. Where could he have gone? To another bar?

Haru took a sip of his drink. His face immediately squished up like he had eaten something rotten. "You don't have to drink it if you don't want to," said Makoto but Haru only turned away.

"I'm fine." He forced himself to take another sip.

Nagisa, on the other hand, downed his drink in two seconds flat. "Looks go get another one, Rei-chan!" and he dragged the other teen haplessly behind him as he went back to the bar, Rei protesting that he hadn't even tried his.

Gou looked the table in front of her. It was littered with empty glasses and beer bottles. How much had these boys been drinking before they arrived? How much had her brother drank?

A weight settled next to her and she looked up to find Mikoshiba had taken Rei's seat while he was away with Nagisa.

"I'm glad you came, Gou-kun." She noticed faintly that when he was happy his whole face showed it. It wasn't like the smile on the faces of the boys she was used to seeing. Makoto's face didn't light up like this and Nagisa's happiness was more frantic, as if he were going to burst with rainbows and sunshine or something. Mikoshiba's face of happiness was ecstatic but not as charged as Nagisa's. It was a pleasant look. He blinked then and his face smoothed out. "Are you not drinking?"

"Oh, um, I don't know."

"You should get a drink!" Mikoshiba gestured to a bar worker walking by. "What do you want?"

"Oh no, that's fine. I don't have much money."

"Don't worry about that, don't worry about that, I got you covered. What do you want?"

Gou pursed her lips. She had no idea what she wanted or what drinks were like at all. And if he was willing to treat her then hell, she might as well try something. "Something sweet," she said after a moment.

She expected Mikoshiba to tease her but he only grinned and said something to the bar worker. Gou twiddled her fingers.

"Captain Mikoshiba."

He turned to her and she noticed when he was being attentive his whole face showed that as well. You knew when Mikoshibe was giving you his full attention.

"Is my brother here?"

"Matsuoka?" He tilted his head. "No he decided to stay in and get some sleep. Nitori stayed with him."

"O-oh." She lowered her eyes. So he hadn't come out. Was it because he knew the Iwantobi boys would be here with his team? Did he want to avoid them that much?

"Hey, don't look so glum." Mikoshiba nudged her in the ribs. "Your brother was only tired. I don't think he flies well. He complained about motion sickness during the flight. You know your brother, when he sets his mind to something he does it no matter what, and that includes sleeping. Besides, you came out to have fun, didn't you? Don't let him spoil that just because he isn't here. It's our first night in a new country! Let's go crazy!"

Gou frowned, not feeling convinced. She looked at the others. Haru was trying to get Makoto to take a sip of his drink. Makoto was tentatively trying to, looking like he was already sick even though he hadn't had a single thing to drink yet. Across the couch from her Nagisa was laughing uproariously and leaning all over Rei. How much had he had to drink? He was smaller than the other boys so he would get drunk faster. He looked like he was drunk already. Rei was yelling at him and there were wet stains on his jacket from Nagisa spilling his drink on him or causing Rei to spill his own drink on himself.

Gou stifled a laugh. Okay. They had come out to have a good time. Everyone else was, even Haru. She shouldn't let thoughts of her brother spoil that. Mikoshiba was right.

She took a deep breath and smiled. "Okay."

Mikoshiba smiled back. When he smiled his whole face showed it.


Gou didn't remember how many drinks she had. She remembered that what Mikoshiba ordered for her was red and tasted great, and asking for it when he asked her if she wanted anything else. She remembered toasting with Mikoshiba and both of them laughing. She remembered Haru at one point taking off his clothes and trying to get into the punch bowl, and Makoto yelling and grabbing him, and Nagisa laughing and encouraging Haru and Rei leaning over barfing into a corner. He didn't hold his liquor well apparently.

And Mikoshiba's smile. She remembered that. His smile which lights up his entire face, and how he transitioned so easily from happiness into captain mode, like when he is saying something to one of his swim members who have asked him something. I like that, she thinks. His face, when it becomes so serious. The deep tone of his voice. But his laugh.

How does someone have so many different sides of him all in one person?

A red drink in her hand. Mikoshiba's arm is extended behind her, not on purpose, just there for him to be comfortable and when she falls back she falls back onto it. Mikoshiba turns to her for a brief second but one of his teammates is talking and Mikoshiba turns back to him, laughing. His arm falls around her shoulders but she doesn't care. She's against his side and he's warm, like sand at the beach. Like a fire. Warm like home. She closes her eyes.

He smells like sun and wind.


When she opened her eyes, they felt gritty and dry, almost like there was a deep pulsing behind them. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision, and groaned. Her head felt full of cotton and her throat was so dry. She raised a hand to her forehead to try and quell the pounding.

Good God she felt horrible. She couldn't recall the last time she had felt this bad. Had she ever felt this bad? This was a terrible idea. I'm going to kill Nagisa.

Blinking she tried to locate a clock somewhere. What time was it? It had to be early morning. It felt like morning, that coldness in the air before the sun has had a chance to melt it away. Why was she up so early?

Then something more important occurred to her. Where am I?

She didn't recognize the room she was in. It was most definitely not her room back at home and it wasn't the room Amakata and her had decided to share in their lodging.

A weight moved on her hip and Gou looked down. An arm. An arm was draped across her waist. A bare arm that was long and muscular with olive colored skin. Slowly Gou's eyes traced their way up the arm to the body that was attached to it.

Oh my. God.

Mikoshiba. Mikoshiba was lying beside her. On his stomach with his face buried in some pillows, utterly passed out. He was shirtless and only wore a pair of what looked like boxers.

Oh my God, oh my God.

Why was she in Mikoshiba's bed?!

Very slowly and very carefully Gou lifted his arm from her person. He stirred a little, muffling into the pillow, and turned over. Gou took advantage of the opportunity to slide out from the bed.

Thankfully there was no one else in the room. Mikoshiba's bed was the only one. He had a room to himself. The perks of being a captain of a strong swim team.

She pattered herself down quickly. She was fully clothed. Good, that was good. She hadn't done anything that stupid. She didn't feel any pain either down…down there. Surely she would if that had happened. Mikoshiba was a big guy after all, he was taller than Makoto for God's sake.

"You know what they say about tall men, right?" Rin's voice from the past, teasing her when they were kids.

Gou covering her ears. "Stop it, I don't want to hear it!"

"Big shoes, haha!" Rin laughs. "What were you thinking about, huh? You pervert!"

Gou's face was red hot. Mikoshiba was nearly naked. Had she seen it last night? Why am I thinking about something like that right now?

She encountered no one on her way to the door and she found her shoes flopped down as if she had thrown them there. She slipped them on. Very quietly she opened the door, pausing a moment to make sure Mikoshiba had not awoken. She heard nothing and she closed the door, beating a very hasty retreat down the street.


She was lucky. Her lodge was not far and she found it easily enough. By the time she got there, her stomach was queasy and her whole body shaking, her head booming. Running in the condition she was in was not very wise, not that she could help it.

She leaned on the fence post a moment to regain her bearings. God why had she drunk so much? How much had she drunk? She didn't know but it was obviously too much. I am never doing that again.

She was also lucky that no one in the lodge was awake yet. She slipped into the room she shared with Amakata on quiet feet. Amakata didn't stir when she entered and Gou slid open her drawer. Amakata turned over and Gou froze like a deer in headlights. But Amakata was simply doing her usual sleeping routine, tossing and turning like a child. Gou quickly changed into pajamas and slipped into the bed.

Gou breathed a sigh of relief.

She was fine. No one had seen her come home. If she was careful no one would have hopefully noticed she been gone all night. She closed her eyes, intent on getting some sleep, and forgetting all about what she had woken up to.


When the alarm woke up her several hours later she felt a little better. Not much better but a little. Amakate slept through the alarm somehow, and Gou got up and left the room before she had a chance to. She didn't want Amakata asking her questions. Not yet anyway.

She took a long shower, letting the warm water course over and relax her. She examined her body once again but found nothing unusual. I didn't have sex with him, and this time she was convinced. Had she done anything with him? Her clothes had not shown any signs of distress and she hadn't felt…wet in any places. The blushing racing down her neck was fire. Had she kissed him? Now that she didn't know. There was no way of telling.

She certainly hoped not. She didn't want to think her first kiss had been given away in a drunken fit which she couldn't remember.

And with Mikoshiba…

Quickly she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. She wouldn't think about it anymore. She would put it out of her mind and not think about it anymore.

She felt better after the shower and after getting dressed she went over to check on the boys.

To say they were worse than her was an understatement. Nagisa was lying on the floor, his arm covering his eyes, moaning like death warmed over. Haru and Rei were at least upright seated on the floor at the table. Haru's head was cradled in his arms atop it and Rei was pinching the bridge of his nose, looking as if he were going to vomit any second. Makoto was the only one who wasn't hung over, but he still looked tired and worn thin. Poor guy had probably had to baby sit the three the whole night.

"Well, you guys certainly did a number on yourselves," Goro observed. The three only moaned in response, Makoto chuckling in that uncomfortable way of his when he doesn't know how to handle something. Goro sighed loudly. "Ah, well, I guess it's to be expected. Kids will be kids. I'll tell Akamata you three ate some bad shellfish if she asks about it."

"She's still asleep," said Gou.

"Yeah," said Goro. "She was up late last night unpacking."

That made sense. Akamata had brought enough bags with her to kill a small elephant. It looked like she had packed for a year trip instead of a three month one.

"Get yourselves ready," said Goro. "We leave in an hour for a joint practice. It's mandatory so you have to go." He received no response. "Anyone want breakfast?"

"Ugh," said Nagisa and Rei covered his bulging mouth with his hand. Makoto had begun to raise his hand but lowered it with another awkward chuckle. Poor guy didn't want to make the others sick by watching him eat.

Goro left the room, leaving the teens to their post drinking misery. When he had left, Gou turned her attention on Makoto. "What time did you guys leave the bar last night?"

She stopped herself from asking the question she really wanted to. Why had they left her there? She couldn't blame them, she wasn't their responsibility, but a part of her was still mad that they had left her behind. If they hadn't left her she wouldn't have woken up in a bed with Mikoshiba…

Mikoshiba, his bed, and how he smelled like sun and wind. Her forehead crinkled. She remembered thinking that when she had been leaning against him. At least she remembered something about last night.

She wondered what the other boys smelled like. Makoto, she imagined, would smell like spring in a field. Nagisa would smell like sunshine. Rei would smell like an office, sharp and clean. And Haru…he probably smelled like mackerel.

Any why the heck am I thinking about this?

"I don't know," Makoto was saying. He looked a little desperate. We had to leave because Rei kept vomiting."

Rei made a strange sound, like a cat being stepped on. Nagisa waved a hand weakly in the air, a ghost of laughter passing his lips. "Rei-chan is terrible at holding his liquor."

"Shut up," said Rei from behind his hand. "This is all your fault. You kept giving me drinks and insisting I drink them."

Nagisa let out a pained laugh. "You still drank them though."

Rei was silent. Apparently he didn't have an argument for that.

"I tried to get you to come but you wouldn't move," Makoto went on. "You kept saying you were fine and having fun and being crazy for once and that you wanted to stay. Mikoshiba insisted he had you."

Oh he had me alright!

"Then Haru took off running down the street trying to find that pool…" Makoto trailed off, looking at the dark haired teen. "I had to chase him for almost two miles before I caught him."

Haru shifted on the table. "Shut up." He dragged the words out like a moan.

"Oh well," said Gou softly. So they had tried to get her to come with them and she had insisted on staying. It would have been better if Makoto had forced her to come but Makoto wasn't the type to force people into anything and he was inexperienced with handling drunken teens anyway. Everything considered he had a done a pretty fine job of getting the other three boys back to the lodge without major incident. He had had his hands full dealing with their nonsense.

Goro poked his head in, telling them it was time to go. The five rose with a series of moans and groans and trudged their way out of the lodge.


The practice was indeed a mess. Nearly everyone who was there was hung over. Their times were slow and horrible. Some weren't even capable of doing a full lap and a few times Gou glanced up to see one of the poor swimmers running towards the bathroom, his hand covering his mouth.

"This is one fine way to make an impression," Goro grumbled.

Gou made sure not to voice her laughter aloud but in her head she was amused. What did the country expect making the legal drinking age sixteen and then inviting a bunch of highschoolers to visit? That was asking for trouble.

She was relieved when she didn't see the Samezuka Academy at the practice. If her luck held they wouldn't have practice today and she wouldn't have to see them. She didn't want to see Mikoshiba. Not after last night. Her face turned red just thinking about it. Did he remember anything? Would he even know she had been at his house when he woke up this morning? She hoped not, she hadn't left any evidence of her time there and if he had been as drunk as she had been he wouldn't remember either. That would be the best.

Gou looked at her stopwatch. She didn't know how long this practice was supposed to last and time felt like it was crawling by. She really wanted to go back to the lodge and get some more sleep. After a sleepless night on the plane and…last night she hadn't gotten much rest. Plus the stupid jet lag.

The door opened behind her, another swim team piling in for practice. Gou blanched. Samezuka academy.

Oh god.

Her luck had officially ran out.

Her brother walked in, looking as scowly as ever but well rested and alert unlike his comrades, who boasted dark circles under their eyes and sluggish limbs. Gou barely paid him any mind for once, watching instead for someone else, hoping he wouldn't make an appearance. But he did.

He looked worse for wear, as tired as his comrades and a little queasy. Even his hair looked tired, not standing up as straight as usual. He wore a jacket over his swimsuit. That attire was a little unusual considering the weather. He gave out a few orders, gesturing to his swim team, then he looked up and Gou knew he had saw her.

Quickly she turned away. Her cheeks were already flushing with heat. She prayed Goro did not turn around and notice, and that Mikoshiba would not approach her, that he would pretend she didn't exist. Goro didn't. He was yelling something at Nagisa, something about not falling asleep in the water. Goro didn't but Mikoshiba did. She heard his footsteps and out of the corner of her eye she saw his tall frame approach her.

He stopped beside her. "Yo."

His voice lacked the usual enthusiasm she heard in it. Tentatively she looked up at him from beneath her hair. "G-good morning."

Mikoshiba rubbed the back of his neck. His expression was almost pensive. "Do you have a moment?" he asked after a moment. "I need to talk to you."

Gou's face grew hotter. She wanted to tell him no. She didn't want to talk about last night. But if she said no that would only be more suspicious. "O-okay."

They moved away to the side, away from everyone else. Gou was glad to see Rin doing some laps. She didn't want him to become curious or suspicious and come charging over.

Mikoshiba glanced around as if to make sure nobody was nearby or watching them. He cleared his throat. "I was hoping you could explain something for me."

Gou blinked.

He reached inside his jacket. From within he pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. He handed it to Gou. Confused, she unraveled it, not knowing what to expect or think. She stared at the paper for a long minute. And then another long moment.

"Is-is this some sort of joke?"

She looked up but Mikoshiba's face was a blank mask. He did not respond.

Across the paper it read: Certificate of Marriage

This certifies the rites of matrimony. On this day of the 5th of May in the year 2013, Seijuro Mikoshiba and Gou Matsuoka were united in marriage.