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"Have you seen the boy outside?" a girl with black hair muttered to her brunette friend, who shook her head quickly.
"No. Why?" she asked quickly, the nearby red-headed girl sighed. She knew the boy outside without even having to look. He'd appeared outside the Iwatobi high school gates every day this week, pestering Gou to go out on a date with him.
As the two girls tittered as they got their shoes and exited the building, Gou peeked out the window. The school gates were just in view and, of course, he was too. Momotaro Mikoshiba. His bright orange hair stuck out like a sore-thumb. Momotaro watched everyone go by eagerly-waiting for Gou-his amber eyes flicking around wildly.
Unfortunately it was the only way out. The second and third time Gou had called her brother, Rin, to pick her up but that had only resulted in all three of them walking together. For the last couple of days she had found clever ways to move through the crowd, or stayed at the swim club so long that Momotaro had to give up. It was tiring; however she was sure if she kept it up like this for long enough he would give up.
Apparently not, she concluded, pulling on her white trainers then starting to exit the locker room.
Whilst walking to the gates, she tried to keep her head down as much as she could. To no avail. Momotaro spotted her ruby coloured hair in a flash and fought his way over to her. Before she even knew it he was right in front of her, grinning from ear to ear just at the sight of her.
"Gou-san!" Momotaro called, even though she was right in front of him. He was wearing the black and white Samezuka swim team jacket over the polo shirt and trousers that was the Samezuka academy uniform.
"Hello, Momotaro-san." Gou replied as politely as she could. He placed his hands on both of her shoulders.
"Please call me Momo!" his smiled dropped a little, turning into a little bit of a pout. The girl pushed his hands off of her instinctively, as people were starting to stare now and it made her uncomfortable. "Anyway, my brother got us tickets to the aquarium."
Gou had met Momotaro's older brother, Seijuuro, last year. He'd called her cute when she'd showed up to practice to pick up her brother (okay, it was to stare at some well-defined muscles too) and she'd be lying if she hadn't been attracted to him. His little brother may look similar, yet he was bouncy and annoying-like any freshman is.
"Us?" Gou questioned, trying to move through the crowd, but Momotaro persisted like a bee after honey.
"Yeah, I was hoping you'd go with me. You will, won't you?" his eyes glistened as he looked into her crimson pair. She ran through possible excuses in her head: swim team practice, got to pick up Rin, promised Rin I'd hang out with him, have to create a training regime, promised Nagisa I'd buy him more strawberry protein.
She lingered a moment too long because Momotaro swung an arm over her shoulders, grinning even wider (Gou wondered how that was possible). "Awesome! Swe-et!"
Gou punched herself in the gut (internally). How could she let this happen? Now she was stuck with him all afternoon. Maybe once she got there, she'd be able to give him the slip and walk out of the aquarium without him.
"I can't really stay for long, though." She tried, Momotaro shrugged as though to shake it off.
"You may feel that way now, but time flies once you get in there," he said excitedly. "It's like a magical, wonderful world of-"
"Why did your brother even get tickets?" Gou cut across, wondering how Seijuuro could allow this to happen (when he obviously liked her himself).
"Oh," Momotaro thought for a moment, then burst into full speed again. "Well he won a competition and he left the tickets on the side. I assumed they were for me, so I just took them. I mean, why would he need to go to an aquarium?"
Maybe he wanted to go with me, Gou thought dryly, a little bewildered that Momotaro had such an obscure train of thought. There was a moment of silence, the girl hadn't really noticed that he had asked her a question, he could just as easily have been talking to himself.
"Where was I again?" Momotaro turned to her, his arm still slung around her. She found it a little degrading to think that a freshman was already taller than her by a fair bit.
"wonderful world of." She prompted for him in monotone, he nodded quickly before bursting into his account of the aquarium (like she hadn't been before). Gou started to tune out, nodding and muttering 'yeah' when appropriate, all the while trying to push his arm off of her (without much luck). She was thinking how it would be if Seijuuro was with her, he'd certainly had brought her something from the many vending booths they had passed and let her speak her mind instead of blathering on to himself. No doubt he'd make her feel special and not some crush.
Gou was so lost in thought that it took Momotaro three goes before she realized they had reached their destination.
The aquarium was a curving structure of sparkling white concrete that gave way to sloppily painted blue concrete for the roof. There were many rivets and additions to make it seem grander than it was. Double glass doors showed a small lobby that sported a plush carpet adorned with dolphins and a small glass desk. It was only small, an old sign in the window showed that you could now feed the blue angelfish for free.
"Are you excited?" Momotaro asked, finally letting go of her shoulder. He looked at her with such a boyish hope that she managed a small smile and a nod.
"I guess. I haven't been here for years..." Gou replied, thinking back to going with Rin just before he left for Australia. She hadn't meant to add that extra bit on, but the ginger boy next to her nodded happily. Just then...her thought trailed off when he opened the glass door and she got a whiff of the chlorine-aquarium smell inside.
Her heart seemed to rise and she realized that she was happy to be back here, even if it was with Momotaro. She stared past the dark flaps that blocked her view of the aquarium as he handed their tickets to the intern behind the desk.
Gou jumped when she felt his warm hand grasp her as he pulled her forward, holding the flaps up for her to avoid her getting hit. She felt her face go warm, even if she couldn't figure out why and was glad that it was so dark inside.
Momotaro came though behind her, she could see his faint outline, though his ginger hair was still apparent and his eyes glistened like marbles. She was suddenly very aware that her fingers fit into his like parts of a puzzle and that he was much warmer than she was.
"Gou-san? Are you okay?" he suddenly spoke, shocking her back to reality for the second time in five minutes. She realized she'd been staring, but before she could reply-"you're not scared of the dark are you?"
"Of course not!" she snapped, annoyed that he would even think of such a thing, pulling her hand away-whatever magical spell that had occurred when they had entered now broken. Immediately Gou felt bad, he seemed hurt that she had reacted so angrily. "It's not even that dark," she muttered, turning away so there was no way he'd see her blush.
It was true, the blue light from within the tanks brought a lot of light to the room. The movement of the water made strange patterns reflect onto their skin.
"What would you like to see first?" Momotaro asked hesitantly behind her. She glanced at him.
"I don't really mind." She replied, trying to be polite again to redeem herself. Momotaro nodded and looked around. Gou saw him smile at one particular tank and felt her hand grabbed again.
He released it the next second, putting his hands behind his back and looking down slightly.
"Sorry," he murmured, then regained the courage to look up at her once more. "I'd like to go to that tank, it has seahorses."
"Okay," she tried to say it as nicely as possible, trying to get rid of the nasty feeling in her stomach. She didn't know why she wanted to be nice to Momotaro now, maybe it was part of the 'making the most of it' idea.
As Momotaro gazed at all the sea creatures in their various tanks, Gou attempted to seem as interested as she could, even though these animals in any old aquarium. It was the same old things; clownfish, seahorses, neon tetras, starfish, puffer fish, surgeonfish. She had admit she found the deep sea creatures genuinely fascinating.
"Aren't you scared of them, Gou-san?" Momotaro asked, his eyes wide in amazement as the red-head started intently at the eels and anglerfish in a dark light tank.
"Not at all! I think they're really cool!" she replied, feeling a genuine smile tug at her face as an anglerfish. Then the smile grew into a smirk and she nudged Momotaro in the ribs lightly. "Why? Are you scared of them?"
He smiled back at her, his eyes twinkling in the fish's white light. "Of course not," he said slyly, mocking her from earlier. She ducked her head to avoid his eyes. Was she actually having fun?
"Hey-hey-Gou-san!" Momotaro said suddenly, pulling on her arm. She frowned slightly, since it hurt and his voice was so loud that it scared away the fish.
"What?" she said, looking around. The aquarium was almost empty besides them so he couldn't have seen anyone from either school.
"We should feed the angelfish!" he exclaimed, leading her along a dark hallway. Gou had been here before a couple of times, the corridor opened into a room with a giant tank of angelfish with steps up either side to allow the public to feed them. There was always a lazy lifeguard sat near the tank, just in case of emergencies. She knew by now there was no deterring Momotaro from doing something he wanted to. Hopefully he'd be content on throwing the stale fish food to the already fat tank inhabitants and she could stand back a little. After he'd feed the fish maybe he'd let her go home.
Gou sighed at the thought of sitting back and relaxing with a snack and watching some kid's shows. She didn't even have any homework today, so it'd be the perfect afternoon. That is, if a certain boy hadn't whisked her off to stare at fish all afternoon.
As Momotaro ran up the steps, she stayed back and watched as he happily scattered the pellets throughout the turquoise water. He had such a pleased look on his face...it was almost cute.
Gou quickly blinked that thought out of her mind as she joined him on the platform, staying a couple of paces back. She was never a fan of this part, when she was little she used to think the fish would jump up and eat her and to this day was still a little nervous of them just jumping up in general.
Momotaro turned to her after a while though, a worried look on his face.
"Gou-san, don't you want to feed them too?" he questioned, his lips were in a slight pout. In that moment, Gou didn't want to disappoint him, he was having so much fun and even she was beginning to enjoy it. What's the worst that could happen to her, anyway?
She nodded, grabbing a handful of pellets from the bag at the side, taking a peek at the lifeguard as she neared the edge. He was asleep, which wasn't surprising since it was so quiet today.
Her distracted thoughts caused her to slip on the slippery edge, near the tank. She fell forwards, seeing the dark shapes of the fish scatter, leaving an endless blue opening for her. She heard a scared and surprised "Gou-san!" before the water enveloped her.
Gou's front stung a little from her unexpected belly drop as she sunk in the water. Her eyes were closed, as she had started out by wishing it was all a dream. She'd wake up in her bed, far from fish and water in general.
When she opened them, her heart thudded painfully. The glass of the tank made it seem like the water went on forever, allowing her the continued illusion. Curious angelfish watched her from all angles, some darted forward slightly to get another look, others to get the food that had sprayed from her palm. Under here, they were bright, beautiful creatures, who, although they had gaping, puffy lips, moved as one with the water. She reached out a ghostly pale arm in the water to touch one, still feeling as though she was in a dream. Sounds from above were muffled, the only sound being her heart beat and for a moment it seemed like she was suspended in time. Just her and her angelfish.
Then her head bobbed back to the surface and reality kicked in. Gou's lungs forced her to take a deep shuddering breath of fresh air so quickly that she almost went back under. She flailed her arms and legs uselessly in an attempt to keep afloat.
But, although she was a swim club manager, she had no idea how to swim.
For what seemed like a hellish eternity, Gou struggled to remain afloat in the angelfish pool. Water kept splashing up around her so that she couldn't see the edge.
She felt something touch her leg and cried out in panic, only succeeding in getting a mouthful of water down her throat.
"Gou-san! It's okay-it's me!" a voice cried behind her, and she felt arms wrap around her waist.
"Momo?!" she called in confusion, trying to twist around to see her saviour, but kicking up more water as she did so.
"Relax." Momotaro muttered in her ear, holding her firmly. She could feel his long hair brush against her neck and tried to do as he asked. He was holding her above the surface, so she could breath air instead of water. Gou coughed a little, but managed to start breathing normally.
She felt herself moving and realized that Momotaro was bringing them both to the edge. One arm around her waist and the other cutting a path to their safety. Once they reached the edge of the glass, he held onto it with him swimming hand, then placed her hands on it too.
Gou frantically flung herself up, rolling over onto the rubber platform, breaths coming out in shaky gasps. She was still trying to register what happened. She fell in?! But-
Momotaro's face appeared over her suddenly, his fiery eyes alight with fear.
"Gou-san, don't tell me you need mouth-to-mouth?" his voice was slightly higher than usual. Rather than get upset at his question, Gou giggled. "Have you swallowed to much seawater?!" he continued, seeming even more terrified. She managed to shake her head, her wet bangs getting in her eyes.
"I-I'm fine," she managed, then her smile vanished as she looked at him in shock. "You saved me..."
"Oh my god! Oh my god!" a new voice came and Gou sat up slightly to see the lifeguard staring at them both in frantic panic. "I am so sorry you guys! Oh my god! It was just so quiet and you looked like you would be fine-oh my god!"
"It's fine, it's fine." Momotaro waved off, "we're okay. But our clothes...are a little wet." He finished with a slight grin, his arm holding Gou close to him and for once, she didn't want him to let go.
"I still can't believe it." Gou stated, her fingers redoing her ponytail, which was still quite wet and bedraggled. Her and Momo were on a wooden bench in the aquarium, by of all things, the seahorse tank. Both were decked out with the aquarium t-shirts and shorts, given free to them by the staff in apology for (a.) letting Gou fall into a tank full of fish and (b.) failing to have a good lifeguard.
"I know. You called me Momo." Her companion said, turning to her. His hair had flattened out and was lying in his eyes like straw (or carrot peelings, considering the colour). She frowned for a moment, then remembered that in the confusion, she had called Momotaro's nickname.
"I guess I did..." she trailed off, feeling Momo's warm hand right next to hers. So close that they were touching. She felt the urge to hold it, then concluded she probably swallowed to much water.
"Thanks," Momo said, she opened her mouth to ask 'for what?', but gasped instead when he pecked her on the cheek. He clasped her hand in his automatically after and she had to look down in order not to blush.
"I should be the one thanking you," she muttered, leaning in to give him a shy kiss in return. Unluckily, however, that happened to be the moment that Momo turned to her, so instead of hitting his skin, Gou met his lips.
There was a brief moment where both of them were frozen in spot, then Momo cupped her cheek as he kissed her back. His lips tasted of the water that she thought she would die in, but for some reason that was an amazing taste, she thought as she slowly started to kiss him back.
Gou was the first one to pull away, after what seemed like a long time, yet time seemed to be going slowly that afternoon. It was only marginal, so that she could open her eyes and look at him properly.
His bright hair and eyes seemed to glow in the dim light, aqua reflections form the tank formed strange patterns on his skin, making him look wild and crazy.
"Gou-san? Is something wrong?" Momo whispered, as though he was afraid of breaking some sort of spell. She shook her head in response, droplets flying off her ponytail.
"You can leave off the 'san'." She muttered, before dragging him in for another kiss.
"That boy's there again!" a brunette girl said to her dark haired friend, who tutted in response.
"He may be good looking, but he sure is creepy." She replied, shaking her head in disapproval.
From her locker, a red-head by the name of Gou Matsuoka, smiled to herself. She knew the boy outside without even having to look. He'd appeared every day this week, with two tickets to a bizarre attraction clutched in his hand.
Once she'd gathered her things, Gou peeked out the window. The school gates were just in view and, of course, he was too. Momotaro Mikoshiba. His bright orange hair stuck out like a sore-thumb. Momo watched everyone go by eagerly-waiting for Gou-his amber eyes flicking around wildly.
Gou waved with her hand over her head at him as she came out, a laugh escaping her lips. Just a week ago, she despised this perky boy, but now...
He was her boyfriend.