Archive of Our Own

Samezuka’s swim captain was a good guy. He could be loud and obnoxious and sometimes terrible at taking a subtle hint, but he had a good heart. It was the only reason Kou put up with his persistent flirting even though she had no real interest. Well, aside from his body. She sighed. What a beautiful body. Swimmers’ builds were the greatest.

The thing about Mikoshiba Seijuurou was that he was nothing if not stubborn -- dedicated to a cause, if you wanted to be generous -- and he’d never been afraid of hurtling himself at obstacles. It was how he’d become the captain of Samezuka’s swim club, certainly.

He sort of viewed wooing Kou the same way. Which wouldn’t be anything more than mildly irritating, in Kou’s view, except that Rin had finally gotten his head out of his ass about Haruka, and now he’d noticed that his teammate was interested in his little sister.

“I’ll kill him,” he said, glowering.

“Oniichan! It’s fine.”

“What’s he interested in a kid like you for anyway? He should find someone his own age!”

Kou glared at him. “Oniichan. I’m not a kid!”

Rin’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll kill him.”

And therein lay the problem. Because where Mikoshiba was persistent, Rin was equally so, with the added zeal of an overprotective older brother, which was totally unfair, because Kou was not a kid anymore and she didn’t need Rin looking over her shoulder like that. But she knew better than to argue with him, which was why she was standing in front of Tachibana Makoto, hands clasped and eyes pleading.

“So let me see if I have this right,” he said slowly, leaning back against the lockers where she’d cornered him after swim club practice. “You want me to pretend to be your boyfriend so the Samezuka swim captain will leave you alone and then Rin will stop harassing him and back out of your love life?”

“Yes!” Kou widened her eyes at him.

Makoto looked back at her.

“Please, Makoto-senpai! You’re the only I can ask!”

The idea of asking anyone else on the swim club was out of the question. The very thought of any of the others agreeing to pretend to date her, whether it was Rei or Nagisa or Haruka, was completely laughable, if for completely different reasons.

A sudden thought struck Kou. “I mean, you’re not seeing anyone right now, right?” Makoto was popular, if the gossip of her classmates was anything to go by. He’d always been pretty popular, being tall and kind and good-looking, but apparently ever since the swim club had started winning things and drawing school-wide attention, all the girls had suddenly realized he’d had quite a body underneath that school uniform.

Kou wasn’t impressed by these professed crushes, if only because she had realized the glory of beautiful swimmer bodies ages ago. Why wouldn’t you pick the sport with the fewest clothes possible to watch, if you had a choice? Honestly.

Kou also usually had better things to think about, like better training regimens and fundraising strategies, so she worried that maybe she’d missed one of multiple girls confessing to Makoto and getting a yes. Nothing had seemed different from usual though and Makoto was shaking his head. “No, I’m not seeing anyone.”

She sighed in relief. “Great! So you can help me, right?”

“Kou-kun,” he said tentatively. “I don’t know if this is the best idea. What if Rin just gets angry at me instead? He won’t be any happier that we’re dating than he is that Mikoshiba-san is interested in you.”

“That’s not true! Oniichan likes you. He trusts you, too. He knows you’re a good guy.” She beamed at him. “And you can just make sure you’re the perfect gentleman, which will be easy for you anyway, right? And then he won’t have anything to complain about and he’ll have to leave it all alone.”

Makoto still didn’t look convinced.

“And he goes to a different school, so he won’t be able to harass you about it even if he wanted to!” She cranked up the level of pleading in her eyes and made one last, desperate attempt. “Makoto-senpai, please. He’s being so annoying about it and it’ll distract him from his swimming, and it’ll distract me from being the very best manager I can for the swim club, and then the club will suffer, and you know how much that will upset Haruka-senpai.”

She paused and wrinkled her nose. “Secretly.”

Because god knew Haruka still didn’t openly profess his investment in the swim club, but she knew he cared.

And there was a reason that was her trump card, because Makoto sighed and relented, slumping against the lockers in defeat. “Okay,” he said, “but not for very long. And we can’t get too carried away --”

Kou bounced on the balls of her feet, triumphant. “Yes! I knew you’d do it! Thank you so much, Makoto-senpai.” With a big grin, she crowded him further into the lockers and leaned up on her tiptoes. As his eyes got hilariously big and panicked, she stretched up the final few centimeters and planted a kiss on his cheek.

“K-Kou-kun!” His face turned a bright shade of red.

Giggling, she backed off and grabbed her bag. “See you tomorrow, Makoto-senpai!” As she left the small building that housed the pool lockers, ponytail swinging jauntily behind her, she saw Haruka crouched near the edge of the pool, already dressed but trailing his fingers through the water. He was obviously waiting for Makoto.

“Bye, Haruka-senpai,” she called and waved vigorously when he looked over.

This was going to be great. She was glad Makoto was such a nice person at heart, and totally unable to do anything to hurt Haruka, even obliquely. Their fake relationship would be just enough to get Mikoshiba to back off and subsequently her brother, too. Maybe she’d do Makoto a favor too, since he was helping her out.

Kou hummed to herself as she headed home.

Mikoshiba looked so hopeful to see her waiting outside the gates to his school that Kou almost felt bad for what she was about to say, but it was necessary.

“Matsuoka-kun!” he said, lighting up.

“Stop.” She held up a palm at him and shook her head solemnly.

He drooped so abruptly it was like a sad puppy. “You’re here to see your brother,” he guessed.

“Actually, I’m here to see you, Mikoshiba-san.”

He brightened again, daring to look hopeful, and Kou would feel terrible but she really had no interest in dating him -- or anyone, really, aside from pretending at it for a while with Makoto -- and she had to make it clear he had no chance. Then Rin would leave him and her alone, and then she could focus on the really important things: schoolwork, the swim club, and of course all the gloriously half-naked boys she got to see on a daily basis. She couldn’t tie herself down to one person! What was the point of a relationship when you could appreciate everyone indiscriminately instead?

They moved down the street to a pretty, quiet spot farther from the entrance. Kou clasped her school bag demurely in front of her and took a deep breath. Here it went.

“I just wanted to let you know that I have a boyfriend,” she said, straightforward. “So you’ll have to stop flirting with me.”

He flushed, to her surprise. “A bo-boyfriend?” he stammered. “Matsuoka-kun! I never thought --”

“You never thought I would get a boyfriend? Well, I’m not that unlikable!”

“No, that’s not what I meant at all! Matsuoka-kun, you’re amazing!”

Her ruffled feelings slightly soothed, Kou lifted her chin. “Well, I just thought I should let you know. A-And hopefully this will make my brother stop bothering you.” She lost a little of self-righteousness here, because she did genuinely feel bad about Rin’s behavior. “Sorry about him.”

Mikoshiba didn’t look like he cared at all about Rin’s hassling. Mostly he looked at shoes, evidently devastated. Seriously, he was getting closer to making her feel bad about this whole thing and she really didn’t need that.

“Okay, so I’m going to go now.”

He looked up hurriedly. “Can I ask who it is, at least?”

Well, it really wasn’t any of his business, except the point was that he should know. Everyone should know in order for the plan to work. Kou said, “It’s Makoto-senpai,” and watched Mikoshiba’s eyes widen in recognition.

“That guy? He swims, right? The backstroke.”

“Yes, he’s an amazing swimmer, and he’s tall and gorgeous, and super nice and attentive,” Kou said breezily.

Every word seemed like an arrow to Mikoshiba’s chest but she just made sure to sigh dreamily. “He’s the best boyfriend ever!”

When she did leave, he looked forlorn under that tree, and sort of like he wanted to go back to his room and write sad song lyrics or something. Kou hoped he’d get over it pretty fast -- she didn’t like actively making people miserable, except when it was necessary for training, of course -- but she hoped he would tell Rin or something first. She needed Rin to hear the news from someone else, or else he’d be much more likely to be skeptical.

Now all she had to do was cuddle up to Makoto a little bit at school to be extra convincing, which shouldn’t be too hard. The swim club already had lunch together on a daily basis, so she’d just be a little touchier and girlfriend-like. Whatever it was that girlfriends were supposed to do, anyway. Maybe Kou should leaf through some of her manga as a reminder.

“Makoto-senpai! I made you a bento! For lunch,” she added as he stared dumbly at it.

Nagisa and Haruka were staring too.

“But I already have…” He trailed off, gesturing at the two lunch boxes he'd spread out in front of him and Haru.

Kou gritted her teeth behind her smile and kept the bento in her hands proffered. “Makoto-senpai, I made this for you.” If she could write a message with her eyes, she would’ve.

“Oh!” He seemed to remember all in a rush. He smiled at her, sweet and soft. “Thank you, Kou-ku -- Kou-chan.”

She beamed at him, relaxing. Nice touch.

He relieved her of the bento and bit his lip momentarily, looking torn. But he’d committed to help her and he’d never go back on his word, she knew, so he pushed his own bento away and began to unpack hers.

“Mako-chan, I don’t understand,” Nagisa complained. “Why are you eating Gou-chan’s bento?”

“Kou!” she snapped on reflex.

He ignored her sunnily, as he always did. She sighed and sat down next to Makoto, making sure she was a little closer than usual. On the other side of Makoto, Haruka resumed eating the lunch Makoto had packed him, his expression blank, but she could tell he was as confused as Nagisa was. He eyed her when she leaned into Makoto’s arm. She smiled beatifically at him, as though nothing were out of the ordinary.

“Well, she took all the time to make me one,” Makoto replied, ducking his head. “I couldn’t let it go to waste…”

Nagisa turned his attention to her instead, eyes narrowing. “Aha! Then why did Gou-chan make you a bento is the real question!”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

As one, they all swiveled to look at Rei, He pushed his glasses up his nose. “It’s a simple deduction -- she made him a lunch box because they’re dating!”

“What?” cried Nagisa. “Impossible!”

Haru stared, blinked.

But Makoto blushed and Kou smiled brightly at their surprise. “It’s true.”

Although, oops, maybe she needed to come off less smug about it. She softened her voice and bit her lip like all those shoujo manga heroines did as flowers popped into the air beside them. “I mean, I confessed to Makoto-senpai and he -- he accepted.” She let her bangs fall bashfully over her eyes.

“What," Nagisa continued to screech. "I don't believe this! Gou-chan and Mako-chan are dating?"

"Obviously," sniffed Rei. "You make a beautiful couple," he added earnestly.

"And you made him bento!" Kou jumped when Nagisa grabbed her hands and clasped him to his chest, shining eyes peering into hers. "Could it be that Mako-chan has turned Gou-chan into a real girl after all?"

"What do you mean a real --"

"Please don't say things like that, Nagisa," Makoto reproached him gently, and Nagisa actually sat back and looked slightly abashed. Kou took a deep breath and reminded herself to keep her cool. She had a cover story to maintain. Though, honestly, Makoto was amazing. She'd definitely picked the right guy for this.

He eventually got Nagisa settled and they all resumed eating, Makoto picking through the bento Kou had brought him. She kept herself close to him throughout and he'd look up and smile at her occasionally, although she could see the strain around his eyes sometimes when he looked away. At, for instance, Haruka, who ate silently and without looking up at the two of them.

It wouldn't be out of the ordinary except that, after a while, he glanced at Makoto -- Kou knew better than to think she was included in that gaze -- and asked, quietly, "So it's true?"

Kou suspected this was the major test, more so than a confrontation with Rin. Makoto, as far as Kou knew, never lied to Haru. She held her breath now, praying he would stick to the story. It's for a good cause, she thought desperately.

He couldn't seem to maintain eye contact with Haru, ducking his head. But he nodded.

It was answer enough, it seemed, for Haru, who looked away too. Kou couldn't read the expression on his face; wasn't sure, in fact, she'd ever seen it before. She worried her bottom lip.

Well. That had probably gone as well as it could have, she supposed. Makoto remained quiet for the rest of lunch, but as the warning bell rang and they collected their things to head back downstairs, he stopped Kou and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. His hands were gentle. She blinked up at him, surprised.

"Oh," she said. "Makoto-senpai."

He smiled at her and she felt suddenly warm. He really was quite good at this.

Then his gaze slid past her, because Haruka had headed down the stairs already, without waiting for them. Makoto looked a little sad, Kou thought.

She convinced Makoto, through a mix of persuasion and pointed looks, to walk her home every day that week. Kou was more than aware of the envious looks of her classmates when he stopped by her classroom after classes.

“Makoto-senpai, really?” her friend Natsume whispered. “I’m so jealous! You’re so lucky, Kou-kun!”

Kou wished she could blush on command, but she faked it well enough, looking away shyly and whispering back, “I know! Senpai is so cool!”

“I wish senpai would notice me,” Natsume sighed. Then she looked flustered. “I mean, I’m happy for you! I would never -- I mean -- “

Clearly Natsume was one of the ones who’d harbored not-so-secret feelings for Makoto. Kou soothed her friend, then gathered her things and beamed up at Makoto. He smiled down at her, an embarrassed hand at the back of his head.

“I feel like everyone’s looking,” he said.

“They are. But it’s okay, they should be!”

They usually headed to swim practice from the classroom, but Makoto would walk her home after practice. The walks were surprisingly a lot of fun because Kou spent them discussing the club affairs with her captain. It was nice to get his input on her plans and have his undivided attention while she was it. Usually some part of his attention was always taken up by watching Haruka swim. Granted, it was hard to look away when Haruka swam, she allowed.

Kou wondered if it was strange for them to spend less time together. Now that she thought about it, Makoto and Haru were practically inseparable -- everywhere Haru went, Makoto seemed to follow. That obviously had been less the case recently.

Well, maybe she was helping Makoto out now, getting them accustomed to spending more time apart so the day when he eventually did get a girlfriend, it wouldn’t be as jarring for them. And it was only a matter of time before that happened, Kou reasoned, with Makoto being the way he was. He was just so nice, and attentive, and he remembered that she had a quiz on Tuesday and wished her luck, and never let Nagisa get away with making crazy eyes at them like he still didn’t believe they were dating. The other day at lunch he’d even brought her pocky. Black sesame, her favorite.

If Kou were the least bit interested in having a boyfriend, Makoto really would have made a perfect one. For the moment, he served his purpose as perfect fake boyfriend just as well.

“I’m going to kill him,” Rin announced.

“Oniichan!”

“I swear,” Rin swore, “how dare you he date you.”

Kou glared at him. “He doesn’t need your permission to date me!”

“This is a hundred times worse that Seijuurou wanting to date you. I’m going to kill Makoto.”

Kou was going to hit him with something. “Oniichan, he’s the perfect boyfriend! He’s been nothing but really, really sweet and thoughtful and, um, you know, really gorgeous and all my friends are jealous of me and you can’t ruin this!”

She couldn’t blush on command but she could cue up the tears. Watery-eyed, she glared at Rin. “You can’t ruin this. Leave him alone!”

Rin stared at her expression, looking taken aback. Then he ran a hand through his hair and muttered, “Shit.”

She couldn’t believe he’d come all the way home just to yell at her. Brothers were the worst.

“Shit,” he repeated. “You really like him? And he’s...he’s been good to you?”

“Yes!”

He glanced back at her and she was genuinely surprised to see how upset he seemed. Had he been that invested in her never dating? Did he really not trust Makoto that much? “I thought you liked Makoto-senpai,” she said.

“I always thought he -- I didn’t expect him to --” He broke off. “Shit,” he said again, and then he left as abruptly as he’d returned.

“Well, make sure you leave him alone,” Kou yelled after him, as he clattered down the stairs. “And leave my love life alone!”

When the front door slammed, Kou stood in her room alone, hands on her hips.

Well. She had no idea how that had gone.

A week and a half into their so-called relationship, with everything going more or less according to plan, Makoto pulled Kou aside before swim practice. “Kou-chan,” he said, “can we talk for a moment?”

In the corner of the club lockers before anyone else had shown up, it suddenly struck Kou that Makoto looked tired. He had always been smiling around her, evidently keeping up his role as the thoughtful boyfriend. Now that his guard was down, she saw the tension in his shoulders, the unhappiness in his eyes, and felt like the worst person in the world.

“Are you okay, Makoto-senpai?” she asked tentatively.

He managed a smile at her anyway, and that only made her feel worse. “I just wanted to ask you how long you want to continue this. Is it...is it what you wanted?”

Even his voice sounded strained and tired.

“It’s been perfect!” she said, twisting her hands. “You’ve been perfect. Maybe for a little while longer? Oniichan just found out and he seemed kind of upset but he seems to have been backing off.” Makoto stiffened at the mention of Rin and Kou broke off, suspicious. “Has he been bothering you, senpai?”

Rin had certainly left her alone abruptly, but her brother was a stubborn guy. It wasn’t like him to have let things go so easily, especially if he’d been that upset about it. Kou felt silly for not thinking about the possibility of his harassing Makoto earlier -- Rin especially would feel like he had the right since he’d known Makoto since they were young; they had been childhood friends the way he and Mikoshiba hadn’t. While that friendship was supposed to have worked in her favor in that he would trust Makoto to be a good guy and leave him alone, Kou had to admit she hadn’t predicted Rin’s explosive reaction.

“Is he really mad? I told him not to bother you. He’s such a busybody,” she huffed. She looked up at Makoto in concern.

“Well, he did come all the way to my house yesterday.” Makoto chuckled. “He yelled a bit.”

“I told him to butt out of my love life!”

“He, well, he had some things to say about Haru, too.” Makoto looked away.

“Haruka-senpai?”

Kou was confused.

“As Haru’s friend, Rin thought I should know that I wasn’t being a particularly good friend to Haru.”

Oh. Oh, that was cruel of Rin, to cut Makoto right where he knew it’d hurt the most.

Kou placed a hand on Makoto’s, hesitant. “That’s not true, Makoto-senpai. You’re a great friend. Everyone knows how good you are to Haruka-senpai.” He would be a walking disaster without Makoto to remember to bring him lunch, make sure he didn’t catch cold, and generally take care of him. Everyone on the swim club knew it. Everyone in school probably knew it.

“I...haven’t been there for him as much recently. I think he’s upset with me.” Makoto sighed. “Rin is probably right.”

Kou’s stomach twisted uncomfortably, something like guilt knotting her up inside. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to cause problems for you.”

But Makoto could never stand to make anyone else unhappy either. He squeezed her hand. “It’s okay, Kou-chan. I just have to talk to him, make him understand.”

“You can tell him we’re only pretending to date,” she offered uncertainly. “As long as he doesn’t tell Oniichan.”

Makoto gave her another wry smile, still nowhere near his usual smile, and impulsively, she flung herself at him and hugged him tight. He was still dressed in his uniform and warm underneath the standard-issue cotton shirt, solid. He seemed startled at first but he hugged back after a moment and Kou promised herself she’d definitely help him patch up his friendship with Haruka or anything else she could help with. He’d done so much for her already.

Behind them, there was a clatter and Kou drew back, embarrassed. She was the club manager! She couldn’t be found standing around hugging the captain when club activities were about to start.

Makoto’s stricken expression made her look over her shoulder. Haruka was busy stripping out of his clothes, slinging his tie over the opened locker door. He wasn’t looking at them, although it was obvious he had walked in on them moments before. The door to the locker room must have been open, because Kou hadn’t heard him come in.

“Do you want me to talk to him?” Kou whispered to Makoto.

He took a deep breath. “No, I should do it. Don’t worry about it, Kou-chan.” And another smile, reassuring, before he stepped away and back into his role of Iwatobi Swim Club captain and Nanase Haruka’s best friend.

Kou went to gather her clipboard and papers full of charts and notes, but she couldn’t help overhearing their murmured conversation as she passed behind their row of lockers. She might have walked really slowly, but she was curious, all right?

“Sorry I wasn’t waiting for you after your class, Haru.”

“It’s fine. I know how to get to the pool by myself.”

“I’m still sorry. I know you were probably waiting, but I had to talk to Kou-chan. Is it all right?”

A pause. “You don’t need my permission to talk to your girlfriend.”

“Haru…”

Poor Makoto. He was trying so hard and Haruka just didn’t seem responsive. Haru should give him a chance! Kou was about to round the corner and defend Makoto, or try to explain things, whatever was needed, but then Haruka said, somewhat abruptly, “Come over for dinner?”

She stopped, waiting.

The flood of warmth and hint of gratitude in Makoto’s voice when he answered, “Of course, Haru-chan,” turned Kou a little pink too.

Well, good. She was glad they were going to sort things out. One less thing to worry about when they had another meet coming up. She shuffled her papers and skipped out of the locker room, optimistic again.

The next day, as practice was wrapping up, Rei approached her. “I want to practice more,” he said stiffly. “I would like to go over your training regimen again, if you have the time.”

Tilting her head, Kou regarded him for a second, then chirped, “Sure! That’s the spirit!”

She stayed with him while she put him through another series of laps, shouting encouragement and corrections, and barely noticed that Makoto and Nagisa had already left. Haruka too, surprisingly, hadn’t lingered long past the end of practice, just floating around in the pool. He didn’t stay every day though; Makoto was successful approximately half the time at chiding him into getting out of the water and onto the rest of his life. Kou supposed this was one of those times.

She patted Rei on the back when he finally clambered out of the pool after the latest round of laps. “You’re looking great! Building endurance goes a long way.”

He nodded between panting for breath. “Haruka-senpai was correct. More practice is always good.”

It was odd to be walking home by herself after growing accustomed to having Makoto at her side, but Kou didn’t really mind. She and Makoto weren’t actually dating, after all. She was perfectly content without having to be tied to someone else like that: that had been the point of this entire facade! She didn’t need a boyfriend, or people hassling her about having one or getting one.

The next day, Kou ended up staying after practice to help Nagisa with a torn hem on his Iwatobi Swim Club jacket. “I don’t know how it happened,” he cried. “Gou-chan, you know how to sew, right?”

She did and she reluctantly helped him patch it up but only because she was manager and she cared about doing things right. “Don’t think I’m doing this for you just because I’m a girl! Also, it’s Kou!”

She walked home alone again that day, muttering to herself about Hazuki Nagisa. He looked so cute but he was so devious under that mop of curls and that sunny smile. She was so glad he wasn’t in her class; they’d drive each other crazy!

Makoto walked her back the following day, but he seemed distracted as compared to normal.

“How was your meeting with your chemistry teacher?” she asked him after a fruitless attempt to talk to him about swimming.

He blinked at her. “Sorry, what?”

“Nagisa said that’s why you weren’t at lunch, because you had a meeting.”

“Oh,” he said. “Right.” He flushed a little. Kou squinted at him suspiciously.

“You didn’t have a meeting.”

Makoto rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly. “I did, but not with my chemistry teacher. I was talking to Haru.”

Kou wrinkled her nose. Figured. He’d been missing at lunch too and she’d just figured he’d been at the same meeting as Makoto since they were in the same class. She always tended to assume one was with the other, she realized.

But she was interested. “Are you guys okay? Did you tell him about our arrangement?”

“Y-Yeah, I did.” Makoto bit his lip.

“Did he take it well?”

“Um, well,” he said. “Sort of?”

“I hope you’re not fighting,” she said.

“Yeah,” he said. “Not really?”

It was obvious he didn’t really want to talk about it. Kou squinted at him some more and then shrugged and let it go. As long as they were getting along, then that quieted her worries both as swim club manager and as the person tangentially responsible for upsetting their friendship.

Okay, maybe not quite so tangentially. Whatever.

Kou didn’t realize anything had gone awry -- or in fact there was anything in particular to go awry, because she tended to forget about her “relationship” with Makoto these days unless they were physically in each other’s presence -- until Natsume nudged her during a class break and leaned over, curious and blatantly digging for gossip.

“Are you and Makoto-senpai fighting?”

“What? No! Why would you think that?”

“He hasn’t been around as much,” Natsume said knowingly.

Kou said immediately, “He’s been busy! All the second-years have been.” She probably came off too defensive but what did Natsume think she was doing? As if she had any right to question Kou’s relationship with Makoto. She was obviously just jealous that Kou had such a great boyfriend...one she hadn’t seen much of outside of swim practice, now that she thought about it, because he and Haru were missing more lunches than they were attending these days.

Kou hadn’t noticed, busy flipping through her photographs (swimming was the best sport, really) or trying to study. She got to spend her afternoons shopping or wandering the beach, sometimes spying on other schools’ swim clubs, or sometimes just at home reading manga and putting off her homework. Life was glorious, being single. She only remembered now that she wasn’t supposed to be single in the eyes of everyone else.

Damn, she thought to herself. She’d have to talk Makoto into spending some more time with her again and hoped it wouldn't strain his and Haruka’s friendship again. Now that Haruka knew their relationship was all for show, he’d be more accepting of it, right?

“No,” said Haruka. “Makoto is busy today.”

Kou pursed her lips and tried to be reasonable. “Okay, then what about tomorrow? Come by to my classroom after school?”

It was probably symbolic of something that they kept having all their serious discussions in the club lockers. Probably it meant that they all spent far too much time at the pool. Kou raised an eyebrow at Haruka and Makoto, who sat next to each other on one of the benches facing her. Haru looked impassive, as usual, but for the spark in his eyes. Makoto just looked a little worried.

“He already promised Gintarou-sensei to help clean up the classroom,” Haru said.

She had an inkling of where this was going. “Lunch, then.”

“No -- ” Haru said, but Kou just held up a hand to halt him mid-word. She looked at Makoto, her temper flaring.

“Don’t you have any say in any of this, senpai?”

She understood Haruka’s friendship was important to him, but this was getting a little ridiculous. Haruka shouldn’t be able to dictate Makoto’s life like this! Kou had admittedly grown extra fond of Makoto during this little pretense of theirs and it nettled her to see Haruka take him for granted this way, even if the root of it was, apparently, some sort of jealousy of Makoto’s time.

Makoto was blushing and he looked a little guilty, but not like he was going to say no to Haru. Did he ever say no to Haru?

Kou huffed. “Senpai, you promised to help me.”

“Not forever though,” Haru said, and he had a possessive hand on Makoto’s wrist. Kou glared at him, because he was evidently equally as stubborn as her stupid brother and just as annoying.

“Rin will leave you alone,” he continued, eyes steady on hers. “You should leave Makoto out of this now.”

“Kou-chan,” Makoto interrupted, voice soft, “I’m sorry. I’ll still help you, but not as frequently.”

Kou barely heard him; she was watching Haru’s eyes go dark at his words. This guy…

“Fine!” she capitulated at last. She pointed a finger at Haruka. “But if Rin bothers Makoto-senpai or me, you better let me know so I can fix it. And if you’re a bad friend to Makoto-senpai then, as his girlfriend, I’m going to make him break up with you! Unhealthy friendships are no good for anyone! And definitely not for the swim club,” she added, because despite everything, she knew he did care. And she would use it against him if she had to.

She flounced out, ponytail swinging.

“She’s not even your girlfriend,” Haru muttered behind her.

“Haru-chan…”

Honestly, sometimes Kou just could not see what Makoto liked so much about Haruka.

Well, aside from his swimming. And that body. Kou put her hands to her warm cheeks and sighed, faintly. No one could deny that Haru had a beautiful body -- and Kou could put aside petty differences to admire a well-shaped body, particularly one that moved through the water with as much grace as Haruka did.

Makoto must really, really admire the same, though, to balance out everything else that came with Nanase Haruka.

Rin sent her message that night. Is Makoto cheating on you? I’ll kill him.

Kou picked up her phone from her desk and rolled her eyes. Her brother really needed to come up with some more creative threats.

She rolled onto her stomach on the bed and sent back, No, leave him alone. Nobody should be harassing Makoto -- not Rin, not Haruka. Kou was going to keep her word about this.

A few minutes later: What’s going on with him and Haru?

Wasn’t that the question of the week? Kou flicked her Pochacco cell phone charm in annoyance.

I don’t know but I won’t let Haruka-senpai hurt Makoto-senpai either.

Good.

Another illuminating conversation with her brother. Kou sighed and rolled onto her back, wriggled. Her hair, damp from her shower, clung to the back of her neck. It was probably getting her pillow wet too, but oh well. She didn’t feel like moving as she scrolled through her phone, browsing the forum for her favorite drama.

While she was debating whether or not she wanted to see spoilers for upcoming episodes, she got another message from Rin.

Are you okay? I know I’m not around these days but you can still talk to me if you want to.

She smiled. There was the Rin she knew and loved. He had been distant at the start of the year, preoccupied with racing Haru, defeating him, but she had known, underneath it all, he was still the big brother she’d always looked up to and come to in tears whenever something had upset her. He made a fuss sometimes, had a temper, but he had always looked out for her.

“I’m okay, Oniichan,” Kou said to herself as she sent a reply in the same vein. “Better than you know. If you promise to leave my love life alone, actually, it’ll be perfect. Then I can’t stop bothering Makoto-senpai to be my boyfriend and Haruka-senpai will stop being so weird.”

She didn’t quite say all that, but she had high hopes Rin would get the hint. If yelling at him to butt out didn’t work, maybe the softer approach would.

I’m good, Oniichan. Please don’t worry about me. I will take care of myself. Kou fighting!

It seemed to work. Kou didn’t really see any more of Makoto than she had the past week where Haruka had evidently been monopolizing him, but she didn’t get anything more from Rin about her love life. That had been the end goal all along, so she happily went on with the rest of her life, fielding only the occasional whisper from Natsume, who was clearly fishing to know if Kou and Makoto had broken up.

Kou just sniffed haughtily and refused to answer beyond, “We’re both busy people, Natsume. Boyfriends and girlfriends don’t have to do everything together all the time!”

She was a little reluctant to call the whole thing off, if only because it was kind of giddying to see the envious looks from the rest of her classmates -- but mostly because it was kind of nice to spend extra time with Makoto.

Not that she had been recently, but in theory. The first week or so had been nice.

Kou wrinkled her nose and wondered if maybe she should just end this. While Makoto had been the ideal boyfriend at the beginning, they really had seen much less of each other recently, to the point where it almost seemed to defeat the purpose.

The sky was gray as she headed to the pool lockers after class, but it had been overcast all day without threat of rain. They would probably chance going into the pool for practice. If she was going to break this off, she should probably do it before all the boys stripped and started swimming, she thought to herself ruefully. She had no illusions about how all that naked skin swayed her best intentions. (It was distracting!)

The door was propped open when Kou got to the lockers, which meant someone had already arrived. It was probably Makoto, whose last class was closer to the pool than anyone else. It was how she’d managed to catch him for numerous private conversations before the rest of the club arrived.

Maybe she’d use this opportunity to talk to him again, without Haru, and see how he was doing and if it really would make his life easier if they stopped pretending to date. Or maybe just catch up with him, now that they’d hardly spoken outside of club activities for a week.

She didn't think she was particularly quiet, but Kou supposed she hadn’t made that much noise either, as she rounded the first block of lockers and froze at the scene before her. Granted, if Makoto and Haruka hadn’t heard her, well, they had probably been reasonably distracted, what with being half naked and -- and kissing, apparently.

Makoto still had his school shirt on, though it hung open and the collar was crushed in the grip Haru had on the back of his neck. Haru himself was shirtless, already in his jammers. His back was pressed -- uncomfortably, Kou thought -- to the front of a row of lockers, Makoto nearly enveloping and hiding him from sight. They were kissing, in the technical sense, but a more accurate description would have covered the hand Makoto had slid up Haru’s side, the close press of their hips, the hard, desperate way their mouths moved together.

This was clearly not a first kiss, not with the way Haruka’s head tilted to the side, an easy, familiar motion, to accommodate Makoto’s tongue along his neck, the way Makoto shifted in response to Haru arching into him.

Kou clapped her hands over her mouth to swallow her gasp. It probably would have gone unnoticed under Haruka’s harsh panting, heaving breaths as he slid his hand from Makoto’s nape up to tangle in his hair. His hips thrust against Makoto’s, making Makoto moan.

How could they do this with the door wide open?

Well, no wonder she hadn’t seen Makoto-senpai for ages, not if he had this to distract him.

And no wonder Haruka had been unhappy with Makoto pretending to be Kou’s boyfriend.

Makoto’s mouth made its way back to Haru's and Kou flushed hot at the slick, wet sounds of their resumed kiss.

That was so dirty!

She should probably stop staring.

They made quite a picture though, and for a second Kou thought about whipping out her phone and snapping a picture. The way Haru seemed to melt into Makoto, arms wound around him, hips pushing impatiently --

Oh! Kou whirled around and left with much more care to be quiet than she’d entered, bright red. There were some lines that didn’t need to be crossed, and, as pretty as they looked together, Kou didn’t think she’d ever be able to look Makoto or Haruka in the eye again if she had a picture of them making out on her phone. Her imagination would have to serve her well enough.

Outside the lockers, Kou leaned against the wall and took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She fanned herself lightly with her clipboard.

So Makoto and Haruka were like that. Dating? Maybe. Something along those lines, at least, if they had already progressed to that part of the relationship. Kou fanned herself a little harder. Neither of them had seemed uncomfortable with Makoto’s thigh between Haruka’s and Haruka practically riding it. It -- it was definitely something they’d done before.

As she thought about it, Kou found herself growing irritated. That meant -- had Makoto been dating Haru the entire time he’d been her boyfriend? Surely not. Not with the way Haruka had been so distant at first, and then suddenly possessive of Makoto’s time. It had probably been around then, after Makoto told him that his relationship with Kou wasn’t entirely (or at all) real.

But they could have told her! Kou was great at keeping secrets. Hadn’t she kept this secret of Makoto not being her real boyfriend? And it seemed only fair to tell her since they knew she needed Makoto’s help…

Kou scowled. It wasn’t as if she wanted all that much of Makoto’s time anyway. She hadn’t wanted a real boyfriend. She would’ve let Haruka have all the Makoto time he needed.

“Gou-chan! What’re you grumbling about in your corner there?”

Nagisa waved at her as he headed from the main school building towards her.

An idea formed in Kou’s head.

By the time Nagisa reached her, bouncing on the balls of his feet, she was smiling. Inside. To Nagisa, she said, “I’m not grumbling about anything! Hurry up and change, we have to get in the pool before it rains.”

“So bossy,” he sighed, but he did as told, passing her to enter the locker room.

Kou only had to wait a few seconds before she heard a strangled shriek and Makoto’s flustered, stuttering apologies.

The smile manifested itself more as a smirk. Kou tossed her hair. Served them right for wasting precious practice time.

I heard some interesting rumors about your boyfriend. Do I have to kill someone?

“So Makoto-senpai ended things because he wanted to focus on his swimming? He’s so driven!” Natsume looked at her, eyes wide. “Did you cry? I would’ve cried.”

This time, it was Mikoshiba Seijuurou waiting outside her school gates, back stiff, fingers nervous, tapping along the strap of his bag. “Matsuoka-kun!” he cried when he caught sight of her.

Kou shook her head at him. “He didn’t break my heart,” she told him, trying for honesty this time, “but I think I’m happier not having a boyfriend right now.” Still, she gave him her number, because she did like him and it came with the added bonus of making her brother crazy that Mikoshiba got more updates on Kou's life.

He asks, she shot back. And stop threatening to kill people. You’re like the little boy who cried wolf.

“I didn’t cry,” she told Natsume. “What kind of manager would I be then? I have to encourage his swimming ambition! Now, do you want to come with me Samezuka to ogle -- I mean, collect data on their swim club?”

At the pool, Natsume looked as though her entire world had been changed.

“Swimming is the best sport,” she said fervently.

Kou grinned. “Isn’t it?”

The first and only time Makoto apologized to her afterwards, head ducked and guilt in his voice, Kou accepted the apology without reserve and threw herself at him for a hug. He startled, as he always did, but his arms came up to hug her back.

“You’ve liked Haruka-senpai a long time, haven’t you?” she said, because it seemed obvious in retrospect.

He smiled at her, embarrassed. It was answer enough.

“Make sure he’s good to you or I’ll take you back,” she said, poking him in the arm.

“Haru-chan’s always good to me,” he said.

Ugh. Kou poked him again for good measure but it was probably true. They were good for each other. “Sorry about letting Nagisa walk in,” she said, even though she wasn’t really. He had, however, been incredibly obnoxious since then while alternately teasing Mako and Haru and moaning about his traumatized eyes. She regretted that a little bit.

Makoto laughed a little. “It’s all right. He’s probably known how I felt about Haru since elementary school. Rin, too.”

The sudden concern when Kou had started “dating” Makoto made sense now.

“Well,” she said, “just so you know, if you let this interfere with your swimming, that is unacceptable! You, as captain, and I, as the manager, have a shared responsibility to keep everyone focused on improving themselves so we can win all our next meets!” She pumped her fist in emphasis.

Makoto laughed and agreed.

And he did his best as captain, so she overlooked the hickeys she’d occasionally see him sporting under his shirts. Instead, she made faces at Haruka while he swam. Possessive monster.

But he’d always wait for Makoto after practice, or Makoto would wait for him, and they’d look so peacefully happy as they walked home together, hands just brushing and eyes smiling at each other.

It almost made Kou wish she’d dated Makoto for real, or had a real boyfriend.

Almost.

Except she had another scouting adventure scheduled for tomorrow, and Natsume was tagging along as her helper, and Kou just really didn’t see how having a boyfriend could be better than what she had now.

Kou fighting!