𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟕- 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐔𝐓!
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The remaining days were spent with immense training, both physical and mentally. (Y/N) had made it a point to push her team to their limits, which caused a few insults and complaints thrown her way.

Not that she minded, after all they were the ones who wanted to up their training regime, so she would make it her mission to push them to their full potential.

Now here she stands, holding a large sign to bid farewell to the boys as they head to a hotel to stay for the night before the competition tomorrow. Her head was still buzzing with excitement, so much so that she missed Gōu's gentle look of fondness from her right.

The rest of Gōu's friends had also joined in on holding up the flag, their faces warm and red from staring at the swimmers, to which she laughed.

Looking up, (Y/N) tilts her head when she sees Makoto holding out a large black duffle bag towards her. She waits for him to respond, and steps around the banner to raise a brow.

Makoto chuckles, "I was asking if you wanted to come with us to the hotel." He watches fondly as her eyes widen.

"You guys." She sighs, "There's no point in me intruding on your day-"

"You're not intruding though!" Nagisa cuts her off, and both Rei and Haru nod from beside him. "It wouldn't be the same without you there!"

"Precisely." Rei hums. "Team building requires all members, including our personal swimming instructor."

Haru side eyes the blue haired boy, but shrugs. "We want to spend time with you." He says bluntly, causing (Y/N) to snort. She looks behind her, and catches a small smile from her favorite teacher.

Miss Amakata places a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I already spoke to your mother and you have an entire room to yourself." She says cheerfully, to which the teen feels her shoulders begin to loosen.

Looking back she flinches at the many pleading stares of her friends, but gives up after Nagisa tried to make his puppy dog eyes twice their usual size.

"Fine." She grumbles, but fails to bite back the small grin.

Small cheers erupt through their small group, and Makoto is quick to wrap his arm around her shoulder and guide her to the bus.

"Have fun (Y/N)!" Gōu yells from her spot, her hand up and waving in the air. Said teen turns back to send her friend a small wave, before being pulled into the bus and settling into the far back seat.

What no one seemed to have noticed, was the maroon haired teen had quickly taken her phone out and began typing vigorously before pressing send with a grin. She watches her friend leave, thoughts of what her brother might say consuming her for the rest of the evening.

_____

The bus ride had been, at most, a rather relaxing trip. The boys had settled to occupy four seats off the side while (Y/N) played comfortably against the far back bench of the bus.

Often at times she would get awoken to either Nagisa's loud chatter of what they were passing by next or if they could stop to sight see. Other times she was happily woken by a loving Makoto and a snack before heading back off to sleep.

By the time night had fallen, the group finally made it to their hotel. It wasn't anything fancy, but it wasn't an eye sore either. It was large and extended to just about thirty odd floors with bright orange lights laminating each pathway.

(Y/N) had taken her time to find her room, which so happened to be right next to Haru and Makoto's. Bidding them farewell she began unpacking, thankful that Gōu and Miss A had sneakily stopped by her house to pack necessities for her surprise trip.

About an hour had passed before a quick knock broke her out of her thoughts. Opening it slightly, she's fretted with the warm but excited smiles of her friends, who had all quickly explained that they were heading down for dinner.

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"Whoops! Katsudon!" Both (Y/N) and Nagisa him at the image of a large bowl topped with chicken or beef. Rei shifts from beside them, a bit uneasy at their hunger filled stares.

"I've got my eyes on the tenderloin." Makoto speaks up, and smiles when (Y/N) agrees.

"Sounds good, three tenderloin cutlets please!"

"One miso mackerel.."

The group laugh as the chef takes the orders down quickly before turning and waiting for a certain blue haired boy to decide.

"A hot pot and pork cutlet bowls look good, but I can't decide which would be better with ankake sauce.."

He stops when the chef speaks up. "Hot pot, pork cutlet and ankake coming up."

Quickly Rei shoots from his seat, his eyes wide and mouth agape at the confusion. "Sir that wasn't an order I couldn't possibly eat that much!" Dread fills his face as he's completely ignored, but Nagisa quickly claps his back with a grin.

"Don't worry Rei! (Y/N) can just eat the rest so don't stress!" A small silence falls over the group before the blond is almost tackled to the ground.

"WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN NAGISA?!" (Y/N) screams, her hands waving in the air to catch him while Makoto holds her back, Haru trying to keep hold of the tiniest bit her jacket as he waits for his food.

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"Good stuff." Nagisa huffs while rubbing his stomach, the rest of the group following along. (Y/N) yawns ever so slightly, full of deep fried food and dessert.

Makoto chuckles and rubs her back when she leans back, her eyes tracing over every little star in the sky above.

A group of boys pass them on the other end of the street, their chatter and bubbles of laughter contagious that (Y/N) can't help but smile.

Nagisa quickly looks back at them. "Did you hear that? I bet those guys are gonna be in the tournament tomorrow! Wouldn't it be crazy if they were in the lane next to us?"

"You're overly excited." (Y/N) gently hums before wrapping an arm around him and pulling him close. "Those could've been regular high schoolers for all we know."

"I know!" Quickly all their heads turn up to see Makoto looking at each of them, his eyes shining with an idea. "Let's go check out the pool!"

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The long walk to swim mining pool proves to be more difficult than anticipated. With the normal entrance being closed due to how late it was, Haru had suggested a different path, which is where the teens are currently on.

(Y/N) blows harshly through her mouth as she tries to rub out the stitch that had unexpectedly formed in her side. She groans when she reaches the top of the long stairway that causes her to trip once or twice.

"Hurry! You gotta check this out!" Nagisa quickly runs over to the railing overlooking the small town, bright lights surrounding them almost in a translucent hue.

Haru looks down before gently taking (Y/N)'s hand into his own and firing her up. Once there, their breaths almost hitch as they stare at the pool in all its glory.

It was grand, that much was true. The lights inside causes the water to almost exceed in spilling wonderful blues all over the venue, with stands far and wide to hold almost double the normal audience.

"It's big.." Haru mumbles, his eyes not once diverting from the view infront of him.

Small mumbles and agreements ring through the group, before Makoto looks between his friends. "This time tomorrow, we'll be the best team anyone has ever seen." Nagisa pumps his fist into the air, a giddy smile on his face.

"Just think, if we didn't have this much ambition to swim, who knows what would have become of our club." His small comment causes both Haru and Rei to quickly glance down at (Y/N). Her hands gripped the railing even tighter, her eyes squinted while she stares almost accusingly towards the water.

"Ambition.." she mumbles, and works her tongue against the roof of her mouth. Humming she lets the railing go but keeps a firm grip, her knuckles white.

_____

When the group had returned to their rooms, (Y/N) was quick to dismiss herself  from anymore chatting and retreated back into her room.

Running a hand over her face, she gets ready for bed, her normal outdoor cloths replaced with a warm white shirt and black pants.

A whole two hours had passed since then, with (Y/N) now nestled into the comfort of her bed, her blanket pulled to tuck underneath her chin as she snores.

Small, rapid knocks causes her eyes to pull together before sitting up. She takes hesitant, cautious steps towards the door, but not before reaching over and grabbing a hanger from the closet.

Opening the door, she quickly raises the weapon in the air, but stops when she meets a wide eyed Rei, a small blush on his cheeks while his hair was undone. Sighing, she puts the hanger down.

"What's wrong?" She whispers, trying hard to rub the sleep from her eyes. Rei watches her for a moment, his breathing even before picking up as he took in her tired form.

Clearing his throat, he scratches his cheek. "I need to meet someone and I would like for you to accompany me." His formality only causes (Y/N) to sink back into her slumber before jolting up.

The two stare at eachother for a while, one wanting to go out while the other wanted absolutely no part in whatever the other was doing.

A minute goes by before she sighs dramatically. "Fine." She groans. "But you're carrying me there, and if I fall asleep tough luck."

"I understand." Rei says softly, a small smile blooming on his face at her pouting cheeks. "I'll get you a jacket."

_____

The journey had been for the most part silent, safe for (Y/N) slight snores omitting from behind Rei. Walking down a small path, he stops just a few feet from a familiar figure.

Large wind turbines slowly move in the distance, their propellers slow yet deadly if to ever strike.

"Yo."

"Wanna tell me why we're out here?" Rei asks softly, his voice just slightly above a whisper. Rin notices this, and shifts his gaze to stare at a small tuft of (H/C) hair peeking from behind his shoulder.

"It's about your second question, I never answered it."

"There's no need, I'm over it-"

"No." Rin interrupts. "The thing is..I won't be over it, till I do. You wanted to know how I feel about Haru..you're right, I was pretty obsessed about racing him, but it wasn't his fault.." he gestures to (Y/N) with his shoulder. "..or hers that I wanted to quit swimming."

Rei listens intently, his grip shifting to keep the girl from sliding off. "Don't get me wrong, I was pretty shocked when he beat me but, that isn't what did it.." Rin's eyes flash, a memory playing beneath his harsh gaze. "After moving to Australia I trained everyday. Participated in every tournament, but I could never swim the way I wanted to."

The times where he would train almost religiously till his bones hurt and muscles wanted to give up. Only to be met with the crippling realization that he was so much further behind than he thought.

"The Olympics were completely out of reach. And I felt more and more like I was being left behind." The English speaking boys who stayed in groups after practice, laughing and joking about the smallest of things.

"I could only wonder..'why was I struggling so much?' Why..?"

How alone he felt knowing he had yet to make a single friend, and resorted to training even harder.

'Then it hit me, I swam in a relay, I ruined myself. That's what I thought at least."

Rei watches with a tight frown, almost sympathetic while he watches the maroon haired boy infront of him. "After I got back to Japan I didn't make any effort to get in touch with the five of them..hell, why would I? I had given up swimming for good.

But then I swam with Haru, that race gave me the breakthrough I needed." Another flash, another memory. The feeling of his heart pumping while he raced his rival, his teeth bared in warning and eyes scanning the pool for (Y/N) as he won.

"After that, I fell in love with swimming again..then district came, and I saw you swimming with the three of them..it reminded me of our relay.." Rei's eyes widen almost immediately.

"You don't think..I'm.."

"Ryugazaki, right?" Turing his face, Rin eyes him up and down. "I'm swimming Samazeka's relay tomorrow, and I'm gonna show you just how good I can be.." turning his head, Rin sighs once more.

"You better do the best you can with Haru and the others, I'll be watching." The wind picks up ever so slightly, and makes the girl snuggle deeper into his warmth.

"Keep that in mind out there, try not to embarrass your teem."

Without another word, he begins walking towards Rei before walking straight past. "That's all I wanted to say, sorry to make you come out here.." he halts for just a split second, before clearing his throat.

"You asked me how I feel about (Y/N) as well, right?" For a moment, Rei dosent speak, and results to shifting his weight onto his other foot.

Rin takes his silence and tilts his head back to keep his eyes on the back of the girl he holds so dearly to his heart. "I love having her eyes on me, her attention solely focused on me when I compete.." he speaks slowly, thoroughly. "She has no ambition to swim, which pisses me off because she was the best id ever seen." This time his voice is rough and uneasy, almost on edge.

"That's should be enough for you to figure it out.." Rin says quickly, before turning and swiftly making his way back to the hotel.

Walking away, he leaves behind a stunned Rei, whose arms were rigid and breathing remained shallow, and a peacefully unaware (Y/N).

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𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝟏𝟏