Haha! It's finally up! :D Ugh, this thing's been sitting on my computer for like 3 days! But at least I can post it now :3

Enjoy the chapter!

As I stood there, the sweat beading around me like droplets of glue, my red-wrapped knuckles aching, I thought. I always thought when I boxed. There's not enough time for thinking when you're swimming. Everything comes down to – literally – the millisecond. Your mind can't wander when you're swimming. Especially if can't see where you're going. Especially when you've already got a whole bunch of other things to consider. Environmental things.

How close am I to the lane lines? What place am I in? What school is in the lead?

Where's Dad sitting?

. . . where's Dad sitting? Well he's sitting right over there. In the visitor's stand. Edge of the fourth row, right next to the far left gate. Right next to the parking lot gate. His company car is parked there, gleaming so black behind the fence that no one – not even those pesky pigeons – would dare go near enough to breathe on it.

All planned for a quick getaway. If I win, he leaves. If I lose, he leaves. He'll always leave without a word. That's how he works; that's how he's always worked. Maybe he'll get better by the time he reaches May and Sue.

Damn that hurts! I begin to unwrap my hands, nursing my red, sore and broken skin. The girls have turned out alright. At the time of that race, they were too young to come and Mom only ever works the day shift.

Man, being the oldest sibling's a hard job. You have to set all the precedents. You're the one who makes it so hard for those kids, those little kids who are too young to come watch you swim against seven other young boys, to make a name for themselves. They'll always be compared to you. "Oh you're Mikoshiba's little sisters, aren't you? That's right; you all look alike, just like your father." Because of you, your little siblings will probably end up doing everything you did when you were their age because people are always telling you to do your best but they never stop to think and teach those little squirts to think for themselves.

I found myself smiling as I looked at my hands, my bleeding hands, the hands that always do their best.

I lost the race that day. Dad left without a word.

My arm reached out to catch the violently swinging bag. Tachibana should be here any minute now, I thought.

Taking a seat on the nearby bench, re-wrapping my bleeding knuckles, I surveyed the now empty room. When I had arrived, the gym had been overflowing. I'd waited an hour before a punching bag station cleared, but not being quick enough, I was forced to sit there uselessly for yet another hour.

I wondered now why I thought coming to the gym on a Saturday at 8am was a good idea. Tachibana was meeting me at noon, but I'd wanted to get in my own workout before he showed up. It's not like I need it – I see the way Matsuoka's little sister looks at me – but a little extra never hurts.

My water bottle's nearly empty, so I escape to the drinking fountain to refill it. Now, closer to lunchtime, the gym is practically empty. Everyone my age has gone home to do homework or primp for an afternoon outing with that special someone or a group of friends. The old timers left for business meetings; hey, just because it's a Saturday doesn't mean you can't get some work done at the same time. But all in all, it was a perfect day to meet the Iwatobi Swim Captain for a good workout session, and also the time to share some good-natured and hard-earned wisdom with the newcomer.

Though the fountain is on the entirely opposite side of the room, I hear the automatic doors sliding open, creating that telltale whooshing sound that signals rushing air and a moving presence. Maybe I've just become more aware because I'm waiting for him; normally I'd never notice these things. Never cared before, why care now?

I turn and see Makoto Tachibana standing there with his bulging, blue and black duffel bag hanging off his shoulder and his pale blue backpack mounted behind him. He looked hesitant and for all the world like a lost soul in his unfamiliar workout clothes, very much unlike the swimming gear I'm sure he's usually wearing.

"Tachibana!"

The emerald-eyed swimmer perked up at the sound of a friendly and (sort of) familiar voice. The poor kid looked visibly relieved at the sight of me just standing there filling up my water bottle. Little squirt.

Tachibana quickly jogged over, his backpack bouncing heavily. I chuckled. "What did you even bring?" I said, motioning with my head to the duffel bag. "Camping supplies?"

Tachibana looked a little embarrassed. "Just some stuff I thought I might need . . ."

Smiling, I held up my hand. He took it strongly as I said, "I'm glad you could make it."

"Harder!"

My incessant barking drove Tachibana to actually punch the bag I anchored. He was too nice to hit anything, even something made for exactly that purpose. No wonder he swam: it was the only sport that didn't require any type of hitting. Baseball, football, boxing, he'd be fantastic if only he'd stop being such a nice guy!

The captain, after another few barks and some jabs so strong I could feel the bruises forming on my shoulder, rested his hands on his knees, breathing like a sick dog. I hoped I hadn't overworked the poor fellow. That last stretch was incredible though; too bad he was just a swimmer.

"Well, it's a good thing you're captain of the swim team, Tachibana. If you were into anything else, there'd be no competition."

He heaved heavily, and I realized he was trying to chuckle. I like the kid's sense of humor. "I've never been too big on team sports, actually," Tachibana admitted.

"Why did you decide to bring the swim team back, then?" We moved to the bench and he fished around for his bottle and towel inside that damn huge duffel bag as I wiped my face with a towel one of the gym secretaries gave me when I walked in.

Tachibana gulped, licking his lips. "I didn't. It was actually a teammate's idea."

"And you went along with it and became captain?"

He nodded, still looking.

I smiled. "That's good."

He smiled at me over his shoulder and, finding his bottle and throwing his towel around his neck, leaned back and surveyed the gym with me. There were two girls on treadmills; a middle-aged, out-of-shape man on the bench press, trying his hardest to press sixty kilograms; a spry, cocky young man running up the step climber. Someone was in the men's locker room using the shower. The boxing ring, located behind a door and a large floor-to-ceiling window, was not. Maybe we'd go in after we cooled off a bit.

"Tachibana, listen to me."

He stopped drinking his water for a moment and looked over at me, our eyes meeting. He tilted his head in curiosity; I noticed, to my utter amusement, how much he resembled my dogs.

"Yes, Captain Mikoshiba?"

"I just wanted to tell you something." I had to pause, gather my words. I'd never been one for big speeches. "It's not easy being a captain. It isn't a job you can take lightly."

Tachibana looked at me with an air of surprise, blinking like a doe. His brow crunched up for a moment and he looked about to speak before I stopped him. "I'm not saying that's what you're doing. But being the captain of something like a sports team isn't something to joke around with. You're the sense of order, really, the authority."

"But," he seemed confused. "Gou-chan –"

I waved my hand. "Gou-chan's your manager, it's a different position." I sighed, thinking of the best way to put it so a first-timer like him could understand. "You have any younger siblings?"

He smiled a little. "Yes, actually. They're twins."

"How young?"

"They're in second grade."

I wasn't able to stop myself from smirking. "Good. So," I took a swig of water and wiped my mouth on the back of my hand. "There are your parents, the ultimate authority that the squirts answer to. And then there's you. You're a gateway. You oversee their play time, they run to you when they feel sad, they hang on your ankles when you leave the front door, even if it's to water the front lawn."

He chuckled, nodded.

I continued, "You know how, when they're hungry and you're home alone watching them, they come at you with these big eyes just begging for food, for you to cook them something?"

Tachibana nodded again.

I bowed my head in return. "You're like the big brother of your team. The eldest sibling. You watch out for those kids, and you're the one who makes sure they make their own name, that they achieve in all that they want to achieve in. You'll protect your teammates the same way you'd want to protect your little siblings. You do what's best for your team, no matter if that makes your job so impossibly hard you have to sacrifice a part of yourself to achieve that goal.

"You're the most important person on that team, Makoto. Without a great captain, the Iwatobi Swim Club will go nowhere."

He blinked again and for a moment I was worried I'd stumped him – in that case he's too simple minded to have any place of authority on a sports team – but then he gave me a reassuring smile. "Thank you, Captain Mikoshiba." His voice was soft, sincere. Makoto looked down, his eyes glazed and distant. "I believe I needed that."

I laughed, clapping him gently on the shoulder. "Enough with the formalities: just call me Seijuurou."

He smiled, looking back to me as I stood. "Cummon, the boxing ring's open. Let's see how well you do against a moving object."

AN: The main plot kicks in next chapter; this is just a nice bit of exposition I realized needed to come first :3

Now, gettin' down to business: I've decided that I don't currently have enough planned for this fic for it to be longer than like maybe 6 chapters, but I want it to be longer (my last fic was 6, I wish to improve :3).

Therefore, if any of you think of anything you'd like to see in this fic, drop me a PM or write it in your review and I'll see what I can do :D Keep in mind this is a rather serious fic, but even if the something you think of is funny, please don't hesitate to tell me! :3 We need a little humor to lighten up the mood every once in a while! And I'd love to see what you can come up with!

Link to the cover art is on our profile! :3

Reviews are wonderful!

~BFTL