𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟗- 𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐘 𝐀𝐃𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄
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(Y/N) sat, slumped over on the bleachers while her team continued to watch the rest of the races. Her breathing had slowed down, and her head was tilted so it was resting against Makoto's shoulder.

Gōu glances to her from the side, and her eyes squint when she sees her friend's puffy cheeks and red nose. She frowns, and gently reaches her hand down to twine their fingers together.

(Y/N) peeks through her lashes, and sighs before gripping her friend's hand tightly, her digits almost shaking.

"Mako.." she mumbles, and he looks down to look at the top of her head. He hums gently, and brings his left hand up to place it on her knee, letting her know that he was listening.

"Do you think..I'm falling behind?"

The question makes him frown, where had she heard that from? Is that why she was so down? Because she thinks she's behind the rest of the team?

Makoto takes her chin between his fingers, and guides her face up. He swallows when he sees her still red, tired eyes. "Why would you say that?" He whispers, and scans her face for an answer.

Before she could answer, the group all look up to see Coach Sasabe approaching, sporting a blue cone horn with a wide grin to match. "Hey! Sorry I'm late." He greets, and waves at the team. "What did I miss?"

"Whats up? You look so glum."

"Coach Sasabe.." Makoto greets him, and looks down with surprise when (Y/N) quickly lifts her head from his shoulder, her grip on Gōu's hand loosening as she drops it and sniffs.

The maroon haired teen shares a glance with him, and they both frown in worry when they watch her wipe her eyes with the back of her hands before greeting their old coach with a tight lipped smile.

"Where the hell were you Coach, we needed you!" Nagisa springs from his seat, his glare directed straight for the older man.

Miss Amakata rises from her own, a small but gentle smile on her face when she looks up at him, her umbrella covering her from the harsh sun. "I can't thank you enough for all your help the other day, it means so much that you could come out and support the team." Sasabe bows his head sheepishly, and waves his hand.

"Oh it's nothing." He pauses, and leans his down to stare at her face. Miss A averts her gaze, a bit nervous under his stare. "Hm, I know we've met somewhere before I just can't put my finger on it!"

Once again, the young teacher turns away with a shake of her head. "I really don't think so, I would've remembered!"

Nagisa places his hands on his hips and sighs loudly. "Geez! Did you come here to cheer for us or hit on our teacher?"

"Hey watch it!"

"Haru swam his freestyle heat just a few moments ago." Rei speaks up, and Sasabe groans, knowing he missed it. "Damn it! I was afraid I'd miss the prelims! Oh well." He sighs. "At least I'll be able to see him kick ass in the finals." The group look down at this, and (Y/N) could very slowly feel her smile drop.

"He won't be in the finals." She says softly, and rubs her nose. "He didn't pass the prelims." She confirms, and their coach looks at her with wide eyes.

"You're not serious?!"

_____

By the time they had cleared up and calmed Coach Sasabe down before he could go yell at the judges, the team all sit back down to watch the rest of the races.

"Hey..isn't that.." Nagisa looks down at the swimmers, his gaze set on a familiar mop of orange hair.

"Samazeka's swim team captain.." Makoto confirms, and looks up, impressed to see he had set a new personal best time. Looking down, he gently bumps his shoulder with the girl beside him. "You call him orangutan, don't you?" He chuckles lightly, and Nagisa leans over to laugh.

"Yeah!" Their bubbly friend exclaims, "You're nickname for him really stuck, huh?"

"Mhm."

The two boys watch (Y/N), surprised at her lack of response. Gōu looks up at her friend, her chest sinking ever so slightly that the shine in her eyes was dimmed.

Rei glances to his friends, before looking back at the entrance to the bleachers. "Something wrong?" Makoto asks, and he sighs. "I thought that surely Haru would have joined us by now.."

Nagisa glances down at his friend's watch, before shrugging. "He's probably still in the shower."

"Perhaps, but something seems off and I don't like it." Rei stands up without further explanation, and begins to walk. "I'm gonna go check on him."

Nagisa and Makoto both scramble to their feet, before running after their determined friend, leaving the rest of the team to watch them flee.

(Y/N) sighs, and looks back towards the pool, its water lapping at the edges and consuming each swimmer that dive in and out.

'At least I'm not falling behi-' she winces when a small flick to her cheek makes her look up. She stares at Gōu, whose hand was dangerously close to flicking her again. "What the hell?!" She groans, and her friend sighs.

"What the hell with YOU!"

"..huh?"

"Let me talk!" Gōu yells, and both Miss Amakata and Sasabe look at the girls, a bit shocked but otherwise intrigued. "What's been going on with you?" She asks, and her hand goes down to rest on her lap.

(Y/N) avoids her gaze, but Miss A leans over and gently taps her student's shoulder. Looking up, the teen feels herself choke a little when all three set of eyes are on her, comforting looks swirling in their eyes.

She sighs, and fiddles with her fingers. The sound of swimmers yelling and teams moving up and down in the water drowns out her voice. This brings a tired sense of comfort,  but she continues to explain what happened.

She watches as their eyes all slowly widen, and Sasabe clenches his hands into a fist. "Rin said that?!" He gasps, and Miss A brings a hand up to her lips.

"Oh my.."

Gōu however, remained silent as she listened, and stared at her friend with sympathy. She reaches down and cups both of (Y/N)'s hands into her own, who was already sniffling and looking up to the sky to stop herself from crying again.

"I'm.." the younger of the two begins, her voice cracking. She tries to speak, but (Y/N) shakes her head with a small smile. "It's okay.." she says softly, and sniffs before reaching up and rubbing her face once more.

"I'm just glad I got to tell you guys."

"It's not okay!" Gōu shakes her head, and her hair flutters into her face. "He can't just..he.." she tries to find the words, but can't and resorts to slamming the palm of her hands against the bleachers. "(Y/N)..he's-"

"Your brother." Her friend interrupts, and squeezes her hands. "Don't be mad at him, okay? I already knew how he felt about me.." she trails off, and the nagging ache in her chest makes her huff.

The group all fall silent, the only sound being the cheering of teams and the yells of spectators filling the gap between them.

A minute passes, before (Y/N) stands up, her hands on her hips as she turns to look at them.

"The guys still have their faces coming up." She reminds, and forces a grin on her wobbling lips. Their eyes widen as they watch, and their friend claps her hands.

"So let's cheer for them till we embarrass the hell out of them!"

_____

"Let's go Ma-ko-to!" (Y/N) yells at top of her lungs, and cheers as her friend pushes through the water. Nagisa had come back, only to run away to find Haru, leaving the rest of the group to cheer and scream for their tall teammate.

She watches, the redness in her eyes slowly fading as he makes the turn, and she jumps up to wrap her arms around Rei's neck in excitement.

The boy chokes, and looks down with red cheeks at his friend's bright grinning face looking out towards the pool. "I liked it better when you were less touchy." He groans, and yells when she pinches his neck and lets go to lean against the railing.

The team continue to cheer, their voices ringing loud as Makoto reaches the end of the pool. Looking up, they sigh to see he hadn't qualified, but smile brightly as he climbed out the pool.

Makoto looks up, and stops when he sees not only Haru, but (Y/N), both staring at him with wide eyes. Grinning, he sends a small wave to the two, and Haru looks away, slightly relieved that his friend still manages to put on a good performance.

(Y/N) looks up, and gasps softly when she sees her dark haired friend. The two lock eyes, and she gives him a small smile when he stares at her in concern. She nods, silently letting him know that she was okay, and he sighs.

_____

Nagisa was up next, and the team all are practically leaning over the edge of the railings cheering for him.

Makoto and (Y/N) stand side by side, the boy's arm wrapped around her shoulders as he squeezes her to his side.

They sigh as they see their friend hadn't qualified either, but nonetheless they were happy for him.

(Y/N) looks up at her friend, who was already staring at her, his eyes shining with concern, but also admiration.

"What?" She says softly, and gently pokes his side with her finger. Makoto sighs with the tiniest of smiles, and squeezes her shoulder. Shaking his head, he leans down and taps the tip of his nose to her hair.

"Nothing."

_____

"I lost it!" Nagisa had rejoined with the group, a pout on his face as he scrunched his nose in embarrassment. Sasabe shakes his head, and rests his hand on his students shoulder.

"You were close though!"

"That push at the end was something to be proud of!" Gōu tries to ease his worries, and (Y/N) nods from beside her.

Rei had since stood up, and adjusts his glances, a tick that (Y/N) had notices he does when he gets nervous. "I believe it's finally my turn to shine!"

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Nagisa asks, and once again he fiddles with his glasses. "I've got this in the bag, belive it or not, conpetition is my forte."

_____

The whistle signals the swimmers to take their marks, and (Y/N) watches with set eyes as the rest of the team all nervously watch Rei, his red and yellow goggles making it easier to spot him.

He dives in, and the team all watch with batted breath. (Y/N) squints, and slams her hands on the railing when she sees his face. "What the hell is wrong with his glasses?!" She yells, noticing her friend's goggles were very slowly slipping off his face.

"They slid off!"

"Must have happened when he hit the water." Makoto nervously watches as Rei slowly begins to loose his footing in the race, and falls behind the rest.

The team all cheer for him, their hands cupped over their mouths so their cheers would reach farther. His form continued to be ever so precise, and the team all continued to cheer and yell for him.

(Y/N) looks to get right, and watches Haru, who had stayed in the same place for the rest of their races. His gaze was set on Rei, and that small shine in his eyes slowly returned as he watches his friend continue to push on, despite being in last place.

Turning his head, his eyes lock with (Y/N), and he furrows his brows, seeing that she had since gotten over the verbal bashing she received only a few hours earlier. 

She grins, and Haru looks away, a hint of red crawling up his neck and towards his cheeks.

_____