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"I know it might be difficult, but I really need you to stop by the house after your classes are done. Gou is sick, and I have to work late."
Rin frowned, absently running his fingers through his hair. “I have swim practice today.”
"Rin. You can miss one day of practice to take care of your sister."
He gritted his teeth for a moment, tightening the grip on his phone. He would sooner eat every vegetable on the planet than miss swim practice but… he would also sooner be a vegetarian for life than disobey his mother. “Alright, I’ll check on her. Don’t worry.”
His mother sighed. “Thank you.”
He wasn’t in the best mood when he left his dorm for his classes, but by lunch he had pretty much accepted that he was going to be missing practice. He wasn’t looking forward to telling his captain, but it wasn’t necessarily because he thought Mikoshiba would be annoyed with him.
"Oi." Rin frowned from the doorway of his classroom, waving him over. He definitely looked surprised, but he stood up and walked over.
"Matsuoka, what’s up? You’ve never hunted me down in class before." He grinned down at him, putting his hands in his pockets.
"I’m not going to practice today."
"What? Is there a natural disaster that I don’t know about? You’re always the first to practice."
"My sister is sick."
"Eh? Gou is sick? Is it serious?"
Rin frowned, crossing his arms. “Didn’t we have a talk about calling people’s sisters by their first names?”
Seijuuro frowned in return. “I thought we settled that it wasn’t anything to worry about.”
They stared at each other until Rin clicked his tongue. “Whatever. I just need to go home and check on her after classes are done.”
"Hey , I’m worried, too. Maybe I could stop by with you?"
"Stay away from my house!"
***
The trip from Samezuka to his house wasn’t the longest trip he’d ever had to make, but it still gave him time to feel drowsy on the train, and call Gou’s phone about four times and worry about why she wasn’t picking up. She didn’t get sick often, and when she did it was usually just a small cold. That would maybe keep her out of school for the day, but it wouldn’t keep her away from her phone.
She had even sent him messages while they were both in class a few times (and he wasn’t much better for reading them in class), so she was either fast asleep or dead. He spent the rest of the train ride and the walk to his house convincing himself that she was definitely just asleep.
Of course it would have been nice if she had been awake so he wasn’t fumbling around the front door for a key, but the back door was unlocked. He paused before stepping inside to slip off his shoes and ponder the fact that someone could have easily walked in while Gou was sick and apparently helpless.
"Gou?" He pursed his lips when there wasn’t an answer. She wasn’t that heavy of a sleeper. He was grumbling under his breath when he found her curled up on the couch, two empty bowls on the floor along with her phone. Her skin looked clammy and there were dark circles under her eyes. She was definitely sick.
She was also definitely breathing. Snoring a little, actually. He clicked his tongue, picking up the dishes and taking them into the kitchen. He was not surprised to see a note from their mother about the soup in the fridge, the medicine on the counter, and when the medicine was supposed to be taken. “She’s really treating her like a baby.”
And though he loved his mother, he knew the soup was an old, home remedy recipe that tasted like dirt and feet, even if you could barely taste anything. He had no idea how Gou managed to eat two bowls of the stuff, if that was even what she had eaten.
Well, he sure as hell wasn’t going to eat it.
He glanced down at his phone when he heard a ring, but he realized rather quickly that it was actually Gou’s phone. With a sigh he walked over and picked it up from the floor, squinting at the caller id before he flicked the phone open.
"Mikoshiba. Who gave you my sister’s number?"
"Eh? What are you doing answering her phone!"
"She’s sleeping."
"Is that so? I’ll call later then."
"She’s changing her number."
"Hey! Matsuoka!"
He scowled, snapping her phone shut. He supposed he probably had her number because of the joint practices, but that guy really had no business chasing after first year girls.
Why can’t he just focus on practice like he’s supposed to? Being captain doesn’t mean you can slack off. Gou’s really sleeping like a rock though… maybe I can get a run in before she wakes up and starts treating me like a maid.
Even though he didn’t spend much time at home he had no problems walking right into Gou’s room, finding the box she kept all of her plain hair ties in, and stealing one. He didn’t have any of his running gear, but he had figured he’d end up going on a run if he had a chance, so had changed into his track suit.
It wasn’t perfect, but it got the job done.
He left after making sure he had the house key, his phone, and that Gou was still asleep. Maybe he could get half an hour in before he had to go back; it wasn’t much, and he’d really rather be doing laps in a pool. Technically he had checked on Gou like his mom had asked, and she seemed perfectly capable of taking care of herself if the bowls were any indication. He could probably make it back to the pool for a late practice if he left now.
He ran for nearly an hour before he had turned back, and he was surprised to see someone standing by the gate of his house. As he got closer his expression soured. “Are you kidding me right now?”
"Ah! Rin!" Nagisa turned and waved at him. "Are you taking care of Gou?"
It was a bit difficult to look intimidating when you were panting and sweaty and just wanted a drink of water, but he did his best. “What are you doing?”
"I have Gou’s homework!" He waved the folder with a smile. "Plus, everyone wants to know if she’s feeling better."
He snatched the folder out of his hands with a small sigh. “You shouldn’t bother sick people.”
"You’re so cold, Rin. We all care about Gou very much."
"So why are you the only one here?"
"Well Makoto really wanted to visit but he had chores, and Rei needs to be home by a certain time. Haru," he paused, looking up at Rin. "Well it’s not really his thing, so he sent me with some mackerel from his lunch."
Leftovers? Rin felt his mouth twitch in annoyance as Nagisa reached for his bag. “Don’t bother, there’s no way she’d want to eat it.”
Nagisa frowned, his fists clenching at his sides. “But it’s a gift from his heart!”
"That doesn’t mean it’s something sick people should be eating!"
He pouted for a moment, gripping the straps of his bag. “Is Gou feeling okay, though?”
Rin frowned, tapping his fingers on the folder. He didn’t really know, since he hadn’t bothered to wake her up. He glanced away, shrugging. “She’s sleeping right now.”
"That doesn’t really answer anything."
"Whatever! I’ll tell her you brought her homework," he grumbled, walking past him. "Thanks."
He tried to pretend he didn’t see Nagisa grin at him, and went back into the house. “Gou, are you awake?” There was a muffled groan from the living room, so he assumed she was. “Nagisa brought your homework.”
"Welcome home." Gou’s voice was hoarse, and her hand waved from behind the back of the couch. He knew that she was smiling, and he quickly turned away and dropped her homework on the table in the foyer.
"Whatever."
***
The couch was comfortable, even with Gou’s feet tucked under one of his legs when he sprawled out a bit too far. There was a drama on TV that he didn’t really care about and, judging from how many times he had noticed Gou watching him and not the TV as they ate their instant ramen, she didn’t really care about it either.
He narrowed his eyes and looked at her. “Oi, if you’re not going to watch it I’m going to change the channel.”
"I am watching it!" she protested as loud as her sore throat would allow, and Rin quickly looked away.
"You’re watching me more often than the TV."
She was quiet, tapping her chopsticks against her bowl. Finally she shrugged. “It’s just been a while.”
He clicked his tongue, tilting his head and looking towards the windows. “I come home every break.”
"That’s not what I mean."
There were a lot of reasons why he didn’t want to look back at her, but he glanced over anyway; she smiled, nose pink from too many tissues and eyes bleary from fever; every time they saw each other she smiled, something he could never bring himself to do, so he always tried to find something else to focus on.
Like setting his bowl on the floor. Or a TV drama with a very convenient time slot.
"I’ve just been busy training." He drew his legs in and leaned further against the arm of the couch.
"I know. Mikoshiba tells me how hard you’re always working."
He scowled, clenching a fist. “Mikoshiba needs to mind his own business.”
"Maybe you could take some pointers from him."
"About what? Slacking off?"
"Taking a break," she corrected, leaning down to place her bowl on the floor with his. "It doesn’t hurt him. He’s captain for a reason right?"
He couldn’t argue with that. Despite the fact that he didn’t seem very reliable or focused, Mikoshiba was still the fastest swimmer on the team. Though if he kept chasing after Gou he’d be a dead swimmer. “I think you should just stop talking to that guy.”
"How am I supposed to organize joint practices?"
"We don’t need them."
Gou pursed her lips, crossing her arms. “Well maybe that can be the day you take a break, if you’re so against it.”
"Then have Makoto organize it." He crossed his arms as well. "He sends me dumb messages every time we have one anyway."
"He just wants to talk to you again. It really bothers him you know."
"How do you know?"
"We talk all the time. That’s what a captain and manager do."
"They don’t talk about their feelings with each other."
Gou slouched further against the cushions, looking up at the ceiling. “I guess we are a bit closer than a captain and manager.”
"Huh?"
"Well most of the time when we message each other it has nothing to do with practice. He’s just really easy to talk to, since he’s so nice and caring."
He narrowed his eyes, glancing at her phone. “You need to stop talking to him, too. Managers don’t need to be that involved.”
She tugged her blankets closer to her chin, smiling. “I’m not getting involved in his life as a manager.”
He sat up so straight he looked like he was ready to jump off the couch. “What’s that supposed to mean?!” Gou giggled, pulling the blanket over her head. He put one of his feet on the floor, propping himself up on his other knee to look down at her. “Hey! I’m serious!”
***
Rin didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until his phone rang; he fumbled when he pulled it out of his pocket, dropping it on his chest and, to his surprise, narrowly missing Gou’s head. He rubbed his eyes, trying to remember when he had fallen asleep, let alone when his sister had fallen asleep on top of him.
He squinted at the screen. It was only 8 PM. It was also their mother calling. He sighed, answering the call and closing his eyes again.
"Rin, how’s Gou?"
"Sleeping," he muttered. "Seems better."
"Oh that’s good. She was hoping to go back to school tomorrow," she sighed. "I’ll be home soon. You need to catch the train to get back, don’t you?"
He moved a bit, watching Gou for a reaction, but she was completely undisturbed. “I’ll just catch the morning train.”
"Is that really okay?"
"I told them it was an emergency," he tilted his head, putting a hand on her back. "I’m already comfortable, anyway. It’s fine."
"Then I’ll see you when I get home."
"Alright." He dropped his phone somewhere on the couch cushions and closed his eyes; it took a lot of effort to pretend that Gou hadn’t smiled, and tightened her grip on his shirt.