Makoto had seen it in the paper the other day. The local Swimming club was in search of a new coach for a small class. It would only be an hour's lesson. He had gone to speak to the owner about the job yesterday and been told that no one else had come to ask about it. Then Makoto had asked if he could get the job.

"Sure you can have it," the owner had said. "You seem like a kind person. How much experience do you have?" he then had asked.

"Not much, I was part of the school swim team in middle school and high school, but I have never taught swimming before," Makoto said.

"Well…" The owner had suddenly looked a bit more unsure about the whole thing. "If no one with experience shows up by tomorrow, you'll be hired," he said.

Makoto entered the house he lived in by himself. He was tired after studying all day at the hospital. It would only be until next week he would study there. Then he would be back in school to learn the last few things before his exam.

He had just taken off his shoes when the phone started ringing and Makoto went in to pick it up, wondering who would call him at a time like this. It couldn't be his parents. They were very careful about calling him at times when he wasn't tired out from educating. But it could be one of his siblings. They never seemed to care about that.

"Hello, Tachibana speaking," Makoto said as he picked up the phone.

"Ah, Tachibana-san," It was the owner of the swimming club. "It's Aoyama here. Remember that coaching job you asked about the other day?" he asked.

"Yeah?" Makoto said. "What about that?" he asked.

"Nothing much. It turns out no one came to claim it, at least only people with less experiences than yourself. Now, I checked out your situation and learned that you are studying to become a doctor," he said.

"What about that?" Makoto asked.

"I just want to know if you still think you can handle it. I have heard the study is tough," he said.

Makoto smiled. "I'm sure it'll be just fine," he said. "It will be nice to be the one teaching. Besides, I haven't had the chance of being in the water for a while myself, so I'll look forward to it," he said.

"Very good then. You'll start working on Monday. I will see you then," the man said before hanging up.

Makoto smiled as he put the phone down. It was only now that he realized he had actually been hoping to get the job. It felt good that he had been hired for it.

It was one of the more cold days of October. Makoto was waiting on the bus that was to take him to his education-place. Today was a special day actually. When Makoto finished school he would have to go to his part time job as a swim coach and teach some kids how to swim.

The bus stopped now and Makoto boarded it. Today the bus was full of people and Makoto couldn't find a free spot until a blue-haired boy with glasses pulled the blonde boy sitting next to him, closer, leaving a free seat for Makoto who gladly took the opportunity.

"Thanks a lot," Makoto smiled at the boy.

"It's no trouble," The boy said and to this the blonde whined.

"I was sleeping there, Rei-chan!"

The blue-haired said nothing, he just pulled out a red lollipop and handed it to the blonde boy, who soon lit up and stuffed the lollipop into his mouth with a satisfied expression on his face.

Makoto found himself to be amused by the pair. He had never met anyone like those two before and he was sure that he most likely wouldn't meet anyone like them ever again.

Oddly enough, as soon as Makoto had gotten off the bus, he had already forgotten most about the two. They didn't cross his mind at all while he was taking classes. So far, nothing hinted to the huge impact these two would have on his life in the near future.

Makoto entered the swim club that afternoon. He found the leader and got his instructions. It was simple enough. He was to just teach a small class of kids how to swim and let that be it. He got a list of names of the kids he'd be teaching and looked it over. None really stood out to him.

Makoto went out and met his swim-class. There were seven kids in total. Four boys and three girls. One of the boys looked familiar to him, but he couldn't figure out why that was at the moment. It was a blonde boy with round, magenta eyes. He was smaller than the others, and by far the most cheerful looking one of them.

Makoto called out the names of the kids and learned that the blonde boy's name was Hazuki Nagisa. It still didn't help him remember where he'd seen the boy before. He decided to push it aside and just teach his class.

"Your name's Nagisa?" one of the boys asked the blonde in a slightly mocking tone.

"Yours is Mikio," the blonde answered in return.

"Your name is girly," The boy stated.

"Your name sounds like Mickey Mouse with an O in the end," Nagisa shot back while smiling. "What about it?" he said then, like he had done nothing wrong.

The other boy didn't say anything else, neither did the rest. Makoto found himself amused by the small conversation but as the kids engaged in lighthearted conversations again, he found himself going back to wondering where he had seen the blonde boy before.

It was afterwards that he remembered where he'd seen the boy before. He was talking to the parents of the kids in the class when a blue-haired boy with glasses entered the swim club and was greeted by a loud cry from the blonde boy.

"Rei-chan!" the blonde yelled as he ran up and hugged the older boy. Now Makoto remembered that he had met those two on the bus that same morning and he only remembered because of the blonde boy's nickname for the blue-haired. Rei was a girl's name wasn't it? But so was the name Nagisa so it wasn't too surprising when Makoto thought about it.

"Those two are really sweet, aren't they?" a woman asked another.

"I've heard they're both orphans," the woman answered.

"I won't mind adopting them," the first woman said.

"Drop that idea," a third interrupted the conversation. I tried to have the blue-haired over once and he just dragged the blonde one along," she sighed. "That kid is more trouble than they are both worth,"

Makoto watched as Rei grabbed Nagisa's hand and they walked out together. From what he could guess Rei was about eight years old and Nagisa couldn't be a day older than five years old. It was kinda sad that they'd got such a bad reputation in such a young age.

"Where are they from?" Makoto asked.

"Iwatobi Adopting Center," The third woman said.

Makoto nodded and thanked her. Shortly after then he left the club and walked home in deep thoughts. Maybe he should do some digging about that orphanage. And especially about those kids too.

But thanks to exams drawing nearer and Makoto getting more things to teach the class, he didn't get the time to find out anything about Rei and Nagisa. He got the idea of talking to the two after a while, but he seemed to forget it when he finally got the chance.

Determination could be good, but when you were stuck with too many things on your hands, even that seemed to be forgotten.

This is... like the prequel to Free Parenting. As you may have noticed, if you have read Free Parenting and Future Parenting, then I have reused the flash-back part and added a bit more detail to it. This continues throughout the story. Though, not all parts further explanations of some events, there are also entirely new events introduced that are not mentioned in the other stories.

I have nothing more to say. Just review, favorite or follow, whichever you feel like.

Jackie