A new tournament record.

Seijuurou could honestly say that while he was proud of his achievement, he was shocked. Now, that wasn't to say that he was a bad swimmer. He wasn't captain for no reason - while he didn't match up to Rin (honestly, other than Nanase, who did?) he was still a strong, fast swimmer capable of being in his position - captain of the swim team of a prestigious school.

That day, he had a strong force pushing him to do his best, try his hardest, look the best - and that force was no where to be seen.

After he had broken the record, he played it cool, did his best not to turn towards the normally bubbly redhead, only merely glancing up at her. She had look impressed, yes, but also depressed. Was she disappointed in him?! Was it not quite good enough?!

No, he knew the reason why she looked so rejected. The reason was tall, had red hair, a muscular build and teeth resembling that of a lion - a shark.

The captain had seen what had happened and guessed that it was a bad thing. He didn't really know the situation, but from the look of the Iwatobi swim club - Rin's actions weren't exactly reasonable.

His guess was that it upset Gou that her brother was such a dick - he barely even talked to her, he completely ignored her - it probably caught up to her, and she was suffering from it.

He was going to go find his Gou, and he was going to comfort her.

And brag about his record. Just a bit.

Meanwhile, the normally-cheery redhead was slightly down in the dumps. It had been her goal from the very start to reunite her brother with his old friends, for him to swim with them, for him to change back to his old ways. The results were plain and simple - he was an unchangeable douche, and she was sick of it.

She had gone to congratulate him despite his horrible words of victory, and was rejected once again. No more, she wouldn't put up with it. She was putting in 110% - he was putting in absolutely nothing. Do you know what he said to her?

"Now you can stop bugging me, Gou. Leave me alone, you're annoying."

Her own flesh and blood, who swore to protect her until the day she died, was sick of her. He was sick of her.

The youngest Matsuoka was tired. Tired of all the work she did for him while she got nothing in return. It was clear that she was just a bother to him - it was all she'd ever be. So why bother?

Bother. That was all she was. A bother. A bother to her brother, her mother, the clu-

"Gouuuuu-kuuuuuuuuun?"

Jolting up in surprise, the redhead slipped off of the bench and landed on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Damn it, Mikoshiba.

"Gou-kun! Did I scare you? Are you hurt? Do you need medical attention?!" Despite her current journey into depression, she couldn't help but snicker at the tall male's over-exaggeration as he knelt down next to her, a hand placed on her forehead - isn't that for a fever, not a head injury?

"Hai, hai, I'm fine, you just startled me.. Shouldn't you be celebrating with your team?" Not even bothering to correct him on 'Gou-kun', she sat up and gently pushed his tanned hand away. How was he so tanned, anyway? It couldn't be the sun, or her brother would have been burned to a crisp by now. Strange.

Seijuurou knew something was up the second he calmed down. Parallel tear tracks stained the soft skin of her cheek, her voice croaky and definitely not heavenly like usual.. And he could honestly say he knew why.

"Gou-kun.. Did something happen?"

He watched as her thing eyebrows furrowed in confusion, before realization clearly swept over her. She looked hesitant to tell him, it seemed, but he was positively overjoyed when she began speaking. That would mean she trusted him, right?

Twenty minutes later, the swim captain had successfully managed to make the girl of his best dreams smile. In fact, she was laughing her cute little head off. He had sacrificed his most embarrassing stories to her to make her feel better, and he realized it was more than worth it if he managed to lift her spirits.

"So then, after he told me he was gay, I slipped and fell into the pool. I mean, the guy had seen me get dressed, it was weird! He's seen everything hang loose! So then after, he winked at me, and grabbed his junk, and shouted to the whole club that I was in love with him! But I'm straight, so then-"

By now, Gou was clutching her stomach in laughter at the story. Seijuuruou was the biggest dork she'd ever met - and oddly, she found it endearing. Perhaps all the visits she had taken to Samezuka, she had developed feelings for the Captain. And she had no problems with that.

"- one of the guys told my parents that I was gay for someone, and my dad bust his shit because he wants grandkids, and my mom was all, 'Why didn't you tell us?! Don't you trust us?!' It took me a week to convince them that I wasn't gay and I actually liked a cute girl who visited our school every.." Mikoshiba trailed off, a goofy looking smile pulling across his chapped lips while a blush bloomed across his cheekbones.

Maybe it was just in the heat of the moment, and maybe it was just because he looked like such a cutie when he was awkward. She kissed him. Right then and there, a sweet, chaste kiss on the lips.

Though it was over just a second after it started, Seijuuruou Mikoshiba could truthfully say he had never been so happy in his life. With a grin, he murmured sweetly into her ear,

"Gou-kun, I.."

"I told you before, call me Kou!"