A/N: I'M SORRY FOR UPDATING LATE!

Well, it's currently my first month in college and I couldn't really find the right time to write sooo...

And... yeah. This is sorta longer. Or long, at least.

By the way...

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SHOUNEN AI AND SUGGESTIVE YAOI SCENES (in Yuki's imagination).

I'm sorry. EVEN I WAS FANGIRLING MYSELF. XD #FujoshiProblems

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Mashiro Yuki

“I’m off, then, Ryumi-senpai!” I announced as I walked towards the room’s door and opened it, my bag hanging loosely around my shoulder.

“What are you going to do with them again?” she asked, her lips forming a cute pout. “It’s getting more frequent lately.” Apparently, she really didn’t like the idea of me helping out a little with Ryouta-kun’s training for the Winter Cup, but since it was her brother we were talking about, she had to allow me somehow as long as I didn’t forget that I was still a part of the Anime Club.

“Ryouta-kun’s stamina training,” I answered, gripping on my bag’s strap. “He’s starting to get three of the Generation of Miracles’ special abilities these past few days! It’s awesome!” I beamed excitedly at her as I remembered his progress.

He might’ve found only watching previous games of his former teammates boring, but he was doing a great job. He was starting to figure out the concept behind the prodigious talent of rest of the Rainbow Team and how could he imitate them. Currently, he got to understand Kuro-tan’s passes and misdirection, the Green Glasses Dude’s full-court shots, and the Dark Blue Pervert’s unpredictable speedy play (Give me a break. I don’t know their names! Those are the nicknames my friend and I gave them while we were watching a few of their games). The Red Ice King’s and the Purple Titan’s moves were next. I had to accompany Ryouta-kun a few times with watching the games and giving him a few suggestions when Onii-chan couldn’t make it. I didn’t really mind; seeing good-looking guys interact with each other in an almost romantic way through the TV was a bonus. I mean, basketball is a game where you have to chase someone and to watch someone closely – just like love!

Onii-chan also figured it would be energy draining to copy those moves for Ryouta-kun so he told me I should get him to do a little specialized stamina training. For a few reasons other than purely helping him out, I agreed for the day.

Ryumi-senpai sighed. “Okay, okay… Just help me convince Haruna-chan to cosplay!” She smirked at the reading Fujisaki-san reading manga at the corner of the table.

“It’s impossible,” Fujisaki-san replied flatly, her eyes not leaving the illustrations of what she was reading. She looked incredibly serious, so I guessed that she must be reading a sci-fi or mystery story.

“Then, crossdress for me, Mamoru-kun!”

“S-Senpai, please!” Nanase-kun flinched.

“Here we go again…” muttered Shiori-senpai.

I stifled a giggle. “Well, I have to go… Bye!” I went out of the room and ran straight to the school’s indoor swimming pool.

I checked my phone for new messages and only saw one from Ryouta-kun continuing our text conversation. I let out a small sigh; I was expecting a message from Ki-chan. She was a shut-in until a few days ago, and my life’s purpose until then was to get her to go back to school. Though I’m happy that she started going to school again, it felt as if I just finished a long-running anime and I didn’t know what to do with my life anymore.

Also, my matchmaking plan couldn’t be put into action since Kuro-tan’s also busy developing his new skills and Yuu-chan’s club was really busy with something.

Good thing Ryouta-kun’s training was keeping me occupied, even if I’m not even a part of the basketball team and not coach-worthy. I don’t think I’m even considered his friend – I’m just a random anime enthusiast he meets in random places.

I passed by the locker area and saw one of the groups of girl friends in our class as they all walked home together. Two of them also saw me, and they made friendly good-bye waves and smiles, to which I did the same to respond, before turning away to join their friends. I miss my middle school friends.

Outside the swimming pool’s respective building was a flock of girls swarming around something which I guessed to be the blonde basketball player. I went closer and tried to get a better view, and I was right. It was the handsome seke – I mean model – who was literally the center of attention. With a bright smile, he was entertaining each of the girls the best that he could. I just watched the scene unfold in front of me, waiting for the crowd to disperse so that we could get started on his training.

While waiting, I looked around and saw the OgaYuki pairing walking beside each other. Kyaaa – ! Wait. They were both looking in our direction – probably looking at Ryouta-kun. Ogata-kun’s cheeks were tinted in a light shade of pink and Yukimura-kun’s lips were slightly curved up into a small mischievous smirk as his eyes wandered from his friend to the model. Wait, wait, wait. Things were starting to connect in my mind. My fujoshi senses were helping in a great way.

OH MY GLOB.

Could it be that Ogata-kun has always been interested in Ryouta-kun but he couldn’t come near him because he’s shy and Ryouta-kun’s always surrounded by people? And Yukimura-kun’s jealous? Or was he interested in Ryouta-kun too? But that’ll ruin the OgaYuki ship! What if… it’s a threesome?

HOLY NANASE HARUKA’S YUMMY HOMECOOKED MACKAREL!!!

I covered my mouth to keep my high-pitched squeal from coming out and my arms from flailing hysterically. I turned away from all the three guys then closed my eyes shut. People would look at me weird if I fangirl in public.

Abort fangirling. ABORT FANGIRLING, YUKI.

A hand patted my shoulder. I took a deep breath to calm myself down and to hide any sign of fangirling then faced its owner, though the excited grin was still on my face. I looked up at the tall male, and it was finally Ryouta-kun. He was making an apologetic smile. Behind him were girls walking away, some of them with shoulders slumped. Didn’t he finish…?

“Uwaaa! I’m so sorry, Yuki-chan!” He bowed lowly, but he still seemed really tall (compared to me, anyway). “I should’ve seen you sooner!”

“It’s okay… I don’t really mind.” The excited smile I was wearing earlier only widened. Of course I didn’t mind and I should even have said that I was happy with waiting for him; a new real-life boys’ love theory just made my heart thump while I was waiting.

At the corner of my eye, I saw Ogata-kun scratching his head with a scowl on his face and Yukimura-kun watching him in amusement. Was he angry because Ryouta-kun talked to me? Was he jealous? He shouldn’t be! I wouldn’t do anything like getting in their way! I would even push them towards each other!

“That’s a relief!” He beamed.

The two of us went inside the indoor swimming pool to be greeted by the scene of the swimming team busily training despite the weather turning cooler each day. The captain-slash-coach, a tall brown-haired third year with a gentle face and well-toned drool-worthy muscles (especially back muscles) wearing black diving tights, was watching over his teammates swim laps, using their respective strokes. I had to suppress a squeal – he’s a perfect kind of dominant type who’s worried of his partner’s well-being and tries his best to be gentle when doing it (if you know what I mean). He’s the exact personification of the ever-so-caring Tachibana Makoto from the anime Free! Upon seeing us, his green eyes brightened up as he strode towards us. I had to fight to urge to stare at those abs that screamed seme material.

“Ah, Mashiro-chan! You made it!” He smiled. I nodded with a smile, focusing my gaze on his sparkly smiling face and not on his body. He then looked at Ryouta-kun, who was standing a step behind me. “And you’re Kise Ryouta from the basketball team, am I right?”

“Yes, I am!” Ryouta-kun bowed politely. “I’m sorry for intruding, Haruma-senpai!”

Oh. My. Gosh. A new idea came to mind – a senpai-kouhai relationship. Why now?!

“Ah!” Haruma-senpai wagged his hands as if to say that Ryouta-kun should stop it with the formalities. “R-Really, we don’t mind! We had a deal with Mashiro-chan so…” He looked at me apologetically as I was covering my mouth to keep myself from fangirling, squealing, and flailing my arms over their little interaction. I only nodded in response. It was risky to open my mouth to say something. “For now, just get changed…” He pointed to the dressing rooms. “You’re free to use any unoccupied locker.”

We took that as a cue to go to the dressing rooms. Of course, it was divided by gender. On our way, Ryouta-kun asked what the deal was and why did I had to change too. I only told him that he’d see later, and that it was the reason why Haruma-senpai was able to convince the other higher-ups of his team to let us use a small part of the pool. With that, we went on our separate ways to get changed.

Ryouta-kun was already waiting outside in his school-issued fitted black swimming shorts which showed more of his finely-shaped abs, triceps, biceps, and leg muscles. I immediately turned away as soon as I acknowledged his presence to keep myself from getting a nosebleed. I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to this. I was going to see more nosebleed-causing bodies!

Haruma-senpai ran towards us as the Swim Club members who were training got out of the pool. There were three other males with athletic yaoi-worthy builds and four girls with slim bodies and average heights. He introduced the two of us to the team and told them we’d be occasionally using a small area of the pool for Ryouta-kun’s training.

The ones who seemed to be officers of the club shot their captain meaningful looks so he nodded at me as if to say that I should get started. I tied my long hair up into a tight bun and placed my towel on the bench. I walked towards the pool.

“Actually, Mashiro-chan and I were in the same middle school – Meikou Middle School – and she was a part of the relay team,” he explained to his members who looked at me curiously. Ryouta-kun did the same, but there was an element of surprise in his eyes. I shrugged with a shy smile. I quit swimming over a year ago. “Their relay team won third in the regionals,” he continued then tossed his goggles towards me. I caught them, wore them, stepped on the board, and did the starting pose, ready for the signal to dive. “I actually liked her perfect form and the distance her starting and turning kicks take.” He chuckled then blew into his whistle.

I kicked the edge of the board and the next thing I knew, I pierced through the cool water with my hands in a spear-shaped position. My feet paddled quickly through the water as my hands helped me pull my body faster one at a time. Whenever I ran out of breath, I turned my head towards the surface to take in some air and slowly exhale underwater. Instead of being an obstacle, the water made way for me and helped me push forward through it. I reached the edge and turned around and kicked the wall to accelerate. I swam towards the end, slammed my hand against the wall, and swam up, gasping for air.

The sound of a lively applause welcomed my ears as soon as my head left the tranquil silence of the pool’s water. A male’s hand was already in front of me, its owner’s pretty golden orbs gleaming with supposed excitement. I grabbed the hand he offered. His hand tensed for a second but it might’ve been just my imagination; his grip tightened then he pulled me out of the pool.

I took off the goggles after I sat on the side of the pool.

“Yukicchi! That was awesome!” said Ryouta-kun enthusiastically.

Confused, I frowned a little with the way he called me. Didn’t he call Kuro-tan ‘Kurokocchi’ once…? Before I could even ask why I was called that way, a female swimmer approached me, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Her face was twisted into a scowl. What did I do?!

“I fought against you last year in freestyle. We’re second. You were a formidable rival,” she said seriously. I forced a grin. I didn’t like how she was being serious. Shouldn’t she be a little more cheerful since we finally met as schoolmates? “Why didn’t you join the team? Why aren’t you swimming anymore?”

“Yeah, why did you quit?” Haruma-senpai asked with a concerned look on his face. “I was looking forward on being in the team with you.”

“Uh… stuff happened,” was all I replied with a smile as I looked away. Before they could say anything else and since my end of the deal was done, I tossed the captain’s goggles back to him and grabbed Ryouta-kun’s arm then pulled him towards the part of the pool the club allowed us to use. “Then we’ll be starting! Thank you very much for letting us train here~!”

Fortunately, Haruma-senpai then blew his whistle to alert the team to continue swimming laps. I dipped my legs into the pool as the good-looking blonde jumped in. Good thing no swimmer was nearby when he did so; we could’ve gotten a scolding. He stared at me excitedly which might’ve meant that he was ready to begin.

“Uh… Let’s start with your warm-ups?” I suggested, though it was definitely required to be done so that he won’t get any cramps or anything similar. While in the water, he did the necessary stretching exercises as I only watched and nodded when what he did was right. When he was done, he asked, “What’s next?” He seemed really cheerful today.

“Ryouta-kun, could you hold your breath underwater next…?” I said a little awkwardly, careful not to sound bossy. Coaching and training people wasn’t really my thing. “I’ll time you.”

“Aye, aye, Yukicchi!” He saluted with a grin then took a deep breath and bent down to dip his head into the water before I could ask about the ‘-cchi’ suffix he added. Immediately shrugging the thought out of my mind, I began counting the seconds that passed by. I didn’t really need the exact time; I just needed to know his respiratory stamina. I had to focus my gaze on the ripples on the water. I kept getting BL-related thoughts whenever I see any guy’s half-naked body in this area. I shouldn’t be distracted!

After a while, Ryouta-kun’s head was finally out of the water. He was panting heavily through his mouth.

“Two minutes and thirty-eight seconds,” I announced cheerfully. As I thought, his breathing stamina was already better than a typical athlete. And to think that we still need to improve it? Ryouta-kun would definitely be unstoppable! “It’s good!”

“Ah? Yatta!” He cheered a little too loudly, gaining looks from the club members, but he didn’t seem to mind. “What should we do next, Yukicchi?”

Again with that nickname. “’Yukicchi?’” I tilted my head, the confused frown emerging on my face again.

“I add ‘-cchi’ to the names of the amazing people I acknowledge and respect! And you’re one of them!” he explained gleefully, his pretty eyes glistening like the pool.

Things clicking together in my mind, I shot him a look of disbelief. “There’s nothing worth acknowledging in me, Ryouta-kun,” I said.

“Don’t be so modest! Your swimming skills are already worth acknowledging. I mean, you won third place with them!”

“That was ancient history, so it wouldn’t count!”

“It does for me!” he replied stubbornly, still wearing that enthusiastic smile. “You’re also helping me master Perfect Copy, so that’s another reason why!”

“I’m just applying Onii-chan’s concepts to help you!”

“And that’s also worth acknowledging! His concepts aren’t exactly easy~” He grinned.

“But –“ I let out a sigh, finding it pointless to argue with him any further. He’d end up winning, anyway. “Fine,” I mumbled, pouting a little and vocally waving my white flag of defeat.

He only grinned victoriously.

“Anyway,” I started steering the topic away, “Let’s get today’s training over with so we could go home early…”

“Yes, ma’am!”

I first taught him the proper breathing so that his lungs won’t be easily tired out and explained which muscles should be used the most when doing the strokes for optimum improvement. I asked him to swim thirty laps using freestyle – one of the most basic strokes that even non-swimmers could manage to do. Of course, he complied cheerfully with a tinge of playfulness, but he did well. With each set he finished, I let him rest for a few minutes then had him swim more laps. It was a relief that he didn’t seem to mind that I was kind of ordering him around.

It wasn’t really boring just waiting for him to finish each set. Call me a perverted fangirl, but I felt like I was the fujoshi version of Matsuoka Gou from Free!the whole time. I mean, who wouldn’t be amazed watching those sparkling wet muscular guys swim around while making some interactions which could pass as slight hints of yaoi?

The sun was already setting, painting the sky in the vibrant colors of orange and yellow, when the swimming team started finishing up. Ryouta-kun had only two laps to go until he’d complete today’s training. Everyone was already making their way to the shower rooms when Ryouta-kun got out of the pool in an undeniably hot wet look. I had focus looking on his smiling but obviously tired face to avoid a sudden nosebleed. We walked together towards the shower rooms before separating since they are separated by genders.

It was hard to shower and rinse off the chlorine without thinking what could’ve been happening next door – the guys’ shower room. They were all guys! And I sensed at least two submissive types in the team. The nosebleed-causing scene playing on my head was about to escalate into a whole new level when I heard a low but still feminine voice call my last name, throwing my fantasy into the void.

“Yes?” I answered in a friendly tone, finally rinsing off the soap from my body.

“Join the swim team,” she commanded. A few others let out sounds of agreement.

Not this again. “I’m sorry, but I quit swimming…” I replied, trying to sound firm.

“Why?”

I took the towel and dried myself up. I didn’t really want to remember the reason why, but it just flashed into my mind.

My teammate, who was supposed to be on my slot to swim free in the relay but the place was given to me instead because the coach said I swam faster, talked badly behind my back, saying things like me being a show-off, a weirdo, a flirt, and a plastic – the types I’m not, even. Though it was childish, my teammates believed her. Their treatment was starting to change then, and by the time the competitions came, I felt like a complete outcast despite their smiles which were definitely fake. It wasn’t our lack of speed and skills that made us lose in the regionals; it was our lack of teamwork and rapport. Of course, I knew they blamed me. I quit the club right after the competition.

So when I entered high school, I was determined to change everything and act more carefully. That, however, didn’t turn out as well as I expected, but I could go with it.

“I just… can’t.” I left the room and dressed up quickly then left the covered swimming pool and waited for Ryouta-kun by the entrance. I let out a sigh; that shouldn't be affecting me anymore.

Ryouta-kun soon went out with Haruma-senpai and they were talking with sparkling smiles. They walked towards me and soon I was looking up at two handsome towers. I’d get a stiff neck if this kept up.

“Thank you for today, Haruma-senpai!” I bowed lowly. Ryouta-kun also bowed beside me after repeating what I said.

“Don’t mention it, really!”

We stood up straight.

“Well, good luck on the Winter Cup, Kise-kun.” Haruma-senpai smiled gently then patted Ryouta-kun’s shoulder in a friendly way.

“You too, Haruma-senpai!” Ryouta-kun grinned at the captain.

Kyaaa~! The ultimate seke strikes again!

After bidding our goodbyes, Ryouta-kun and I walked together to the train station. Still calling me ‘Yukicchi’, we talked about random stuff such as today’s training, his modeling work, and the like. He was actually easy and fun to talk to; he definitely destroyed my first impression of him back when I regarded him as the Yellow Copycat. He then asked about Kuro-tan, his eyes glittering with curiosity and excitement. If he was a dog, his tail would definitely be wagging so hard it would’ve hurt. His attachment to Kuro-san was so adorable; I couldn’t see why Kuro-tan was acting so cold and maybe… tsundere?! If that wasn’t enough to prove KiKuro (yes, another ship name), I don’t know what is!

We rode the train together then separated in our respective stops.

As I was walking home, it hit me: I was fortunate that I didn’t join any sports-related club with lots of boys, especially the swimming club and the basketball club. It would’ve been bad for my fangirl heart if saw too many possible boys’ love scenes and hot muscular bodies at once!

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A/N: Yes, lots of Free! references.

And Haruma's really based on the adorable sweet baby Makoto~ I wuv him~ >u<

(You may also notice the ship. *wink wink*

HaruMa(ko))