A/n: I feel like this oneshot doens't have as much Sousuke as most people would want but I feel very pleased about this nonetheless. I hope you guys enjoy this and please do request on who I should write about next! I'm free to write about any boy in Free!

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It's been months since I met Sousuke Yamazaki. And in such a short time, I fell hard for him. No, I'm sure it was only one day when I realized it... and he barely gotten my number that day.

It was only the second time we ever hung out (we decided to go to some nearby park) when he asked me out officially. So, to this day, we've been dating and I am definitely happy for accepting.

Despite how happy I was with my relationship with Sousuke, it had become a struggle to keep it a secret from the Iwatobi team. They were some of my closest friends and keeping this from them really took a toll on me. I just didn't want Haru to find out until the time was right. No way was I going to tell any of the second-years. They weren't the bunch I would usually share my secrets to unless everyone in our group knew already. Maybe I could trust Rei but I have no idea if he might mindlessly tell Nagisa about it.

Makoto was the only one that came to mind to whom I could trust this secret with. I trusted him deeply and I knew he would keep a secret hidden. I've known him since elementary school, I would know. But... if I asked him to keep it a secret from Haru, I don't know what he would say. I know how close those two boys were. I don't want to ruin any trust between them if I do decide to tell Makoto about the situation.

I guess I might just have to wade it out and see where this relationship takes me.

...

"Guys, honestly, you didn't have to! I could have just taken a train over here tomorrow to watch you all in regionals," I told the swim team as we arrived to Tokyo right after school.

"(F/n)-chan, we're already here. You can't take it back now!" Nagisa replied with a smile. "You could've mentioned that when we were still in Iwatobi."

"I did!" I defended with a pout. "But Haru and Makoto told me to pack my bags for two days and go. I felt like I didn't have much of a choice." I averted my gaze over to the two third-years and they only smiled at me innocently. I let out a sigh and returned a grin. "But thank you, it's nice of you all to have invited me to stay overnight even when I'm not part of the team."

"Of course, (F/n)-chan! Plus, Miho-san wanted her own room, so that leaves me by myself in my hotel room," Gou said as we came into view of the very hotel we will be staying in. "So, it's perfect for you to come along with us."

"You're ok with a roommate?" I asked her.

"Of course! We'll have a small sleepover," she replied excitedly. I gave her a nod as I too shared her enthusiasm, it'd be fun to have a little girls' night.

We followed Miho-san into the hotel and we all stopped abruptly to the sound of someone yelling. It was a familiar voice and they were calling out to someone in particular. "Gou-san!" We all turned around and saw Samezuka just now arriving to the hotel.

They're going to be in the same hotel as us?

"What? You guys are staying here, too?" Rin asked us with a pleased smile. Our groups said their hellos to one another, which made me smile at how close everyone seemed to be. It was only last year when there was intense tension. Now, it is delightfully all gone.

"That reminds me, Sousuke-kun," Gou piped up as she averted her attention to my boyfriend. "I saw you at the station near our house the other day. What were you up to?"

Sousuke's aqua eyes widened slightly at the question. My eyes did too at this. I believe that was the day we were meeting by some shopping area nearby. It was unbelievably miraculous that Gou had not seen me as well that day. "Oh, nothing," he uttered out in reply.

Thankfully, Momo had decided to take Gou's attention away from the matter in hopes to, uh, woo her.

Sousuke shifted his gaze over to me and he smiled apologetically. I wanted to walk over and give my boyfriend a hug but I know I have to contain myself for now. I see him take out his phone and type something quickly with only one hand. Surely, it doesn't look suspicious to anyone else around us. I stared at him curiously as he did so until I felt a buzz in my pocket. I took out my phone and saw that I had received a text message.

From Sou-chan <3:

Meet up with me when you're free from your team.

I glanced back at Sousuke and saw him looking over at me again. I nodded over at him.

Rin had pulled Momo away from his little sister and him and his team started to head for the elevators. "See you later," he told us as he followed after Rin. He flashed me one last smile before leaving us behind.

...

"You're what?"

"I kind of want to explore the hotel a bit," I repeated myself to Gou through the slightly opened door. We had settled into our hotel room after having some dinner and the magenta haired girl was currently taking a shower. "Just something to pass some time. Plus, you take a long time in the restroom. Like, why? Are you always prepping yourself up for someone or what?"

"No! I just like taking my time," Gou shouted back that caused me to laugh at her offended reaction. "But go ahead, I guess. Don't be out too late, alright?"

"Don't worry, Gou. I won't!" I picked up the extra hotel key and my phone and left the room. I made sure the door was locked behind me and I went over to the elevator.

I opened a new message so I could text Sousuke that now I could go meet up with him as I was able to free myself from Gou's watch. As I neared the elevators, Haru had turned the corner from the hallway ahead of me. We immediately made eye contact. "(F/n)? What are you doing out of your room?" Haru asked as he made it by my side.

"I could ask you the same thing, Haru-chan," I said matter-of-factly. I gazed at his face and noticed something off. I frowned instantly. "Is there something wrong?" Then, I had a flashback to when Gou, the boys, and I were out finding something to eat for dinner and Seijuro-san was walking around with a scout from his university. That scout had praised Haru for his amazing swimming but what I noticed was the not-so-happy look on his face when the older man talked on. "Is it something to do with that scout, Haru? You know you can tell me anything."

Haru then pushed the button to go down on the elevator. He was still quiet and he held a hard, cold gaze. I let him stay quiet. Maybe he's thinking of the right words to say to me or he simply isn't ready to talk about it. I surely don't want to press him too much about it but I'm a little worried.

The elevator dinged and the metal doors slid open, inside was a man clad in the hotel uniform and his cart and... Sousuke. We both widened our eyes at the sight of each other. Was he trying to meet me on my floor by any chance? Maybe I should have sent that message... His eye averted over to my friend and they seemed to fight with only their stares. Haru entered the elevator and stood to the right of the elevators. I entered after him and stood alongside him just so not to make anything suspicious.

My heart was beating erratically fast. As horrible as it sounds, not once have I told Sousuke that I was keeping this relationship a secret from my Iwatobi team. God, I hope he doesn't mention anything about it, I thought frantically. I closed my eyes and wished for the elevator ride to be faster as the tension in the air made it harder for me to breathe.

The elevator stopped and the employee excused himself to exit on his desired floor. All of a sudden, his cart must've caught on something and most of the towels flew off. My eyes darted over to my boyfriend and saw him try to grab some before it hit the floor but a flash of pain appeared on his face and he quickly gripped onto his right shoulder. "Sousuke!" I mindlessly called out, panic wavering in my voice.

"I'm terribly sorry," the man said as he picked up some towels from the floor. Haru and I helped place some as well back onto the cart.

The worker, with all the towels now back on his cart, rolled out of the elevator, leaving the three of us to awkwardly ride the rest of the way down to the first floor. "Your shoulder hasn't healed yet?" Haru suddenly asked.

I froze at the question. What could he possibly be talking about? "What are you talking about?" Sousuke questioned in a dark tone, taking the exact words from my thoughts.

"I ran into Kisumi the other day." Flashes of a young, strawberry haired boy came into mind. I remembered that Makoto told me that he saw our childhood friend while he was working with Sasabe-san at the swim club some time ago. I had no idea that Haru saw him as well. "He told me."

I heard Sousuke click his tongue and hiss under his breath, "Damn him..." The elevators stopped once again at the second floor. Steps came closer and suddenly, I noticed Sousuke walking out the doors. "It won't have any effect on the match. But... Don't breathe a word of this to Rin." Before the elevator doors could close, Sousuke reached in, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me out. The last thing I saw of Haru was the look of bewilderment and... betrayal.

I stood there frozen as I stared at the now closed doors.

"(F/n)-chan..." Sousuke's voice snapped me away from my thoughts.

I turned towards him, a frown plastered onto my face. "Sousuke, your shoulder," I found the words to say. "What happened to your shoulder?" It shouldn't be a surprise that there might've been a problem with his shoulder. I would always notice him trying the roll out and rub that very shoulder constantly but not once had I questioned it.

Sousuke was reluctant but ended up telling me the whole story on how it ultimately stopped working by the time he made it to high school by working too hard. I listened to every detail, not wanting to miss out on anything. "Please don't say anything to Rin... I just need to get through regionals and nationals if we make it and I promise that's it."

"You shouldn't be pushing yourself too hard like that. You're in pain and I don't like seeing you like that," I murmured out.

Sousuke chuckled and wrapped his arms around my waist. I could feel my cheeks heating up at the sudden closeness. He leaned down and left a butterfly kiss on my lips. "Don't worry about me too much, ok? I'll be fine." I could see a transition in his facial features to a more serious expression. "I should be asking you if you're fine. You and I both know that I don't like Nanase but he's your friend. I hope it's nothing too bad going on between the two of you." He pulled away slightly. "Do you want to try to catch up to him?"

I pondered the idea for a moment but ended up declining it. "From what I'm guessing, he's off jogging right now. He always does that whenever something's bothering him," I uttered sadly. "I think I need to let him be on his own for now and I'll talk to him tomorrow about all of this... I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell my team about us. Haru had told me not to talk to you but I knew I couldn't..."

"You don't have to be sorry. As bad as it sounds, I'm glad you decided to be with me." He kissed me once again, but much more passionate. "You're one of the best things to have come into my life ever since I came back." I smiled widely at his words. I snaked my arms around his neck and held him close to me. "... (F/n)."

"Mmm?" I replied as our eyes met each other.

"I love you so much."

In that moment, I felt like the happiest girl in the world. "I love you too, Sou-chan."

~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day have been such a whirlwind of events. All of the time of individual events, Haru had avoided me like a disease. Although I was deeply hurt by the action, I understood why he had done so. I had betrayed him. He trusted me not to do one simple thing but I had broken that promise in more degrees than necessary. I wanted to so desperately tell him how sorry I was and have him see my side of the story but every time I have come near him, he would find a way to escape. Although, I was surprised he hasn't talked about this matter to anyone else on the team, especially Makoto. But in a way, I was thankful.

Then, it happened. Haru had broken down in the middle of his freestyle race. He purposefully made himself disqualified by having his feet touch the floor of the pool. As much as we weren't talking that day, I still cheered him on with our team. So seeing him so vulnerable made me feel more like a villain for adding my problem on top to whatever he could possibly be feeling.

Also, supposedly, Rin and Haru got into a fight after that fateful race in the locker rooms. Fortunately, Haru still wanted to swim in the relay with Nagisa, Rei, and Makoto, so that eases down some of my worries.

Now, as we were watching Rin on his butterfly race, Haru had bolted off without saying one word to us. I was standing farthest from him so I wasn't able to prevent him from fleeing. "Hey, (F/n)-chan, do you want to help me find Haru?" Makoto asked me after watching Rin's race. I gave him a nod, excused ourselves from the others, and went off. We searched high and low for our best friend but to no avail.

We decided it was time to just go find Rei and Nagisa, since finding Haru right now was a lost cause. The boys all said that it was best to wait for the ebony-haired swimmer to pop up for their relay race. If they had that much faith on him, I might as well wait along with them as well so I could have a chance to talk to him.

It took some time but Haru did end up showing up. Before the boys could all leave to go to the pool, I grabbed onto Haru's jacket sleeve. "I'm sorry, you guys go ahead. I need to talk to Haru about something really quick," I piped up to the three boys.

"Oh, well alright. C'mon, Rei, Nagisa," Makoto told the second years as they all disappeared down the hallway.

"Haru," I murmured out as I turned towards him. "I'm so sorry about everything." I tightened my grasp on his sleeve in case he tries to tear away. "But, please just listen-"

Haru interjected by holding up his free hand. "(F/n)... it's ok." I gawked at him in shock. Did those words really come out of his lips? "I should be the sorry one. If you're truly happy with him then my feelings towards Yamazaki shouldn't matter."

I could feel myself tearing up at the words. "Haru." I tackled him into a crushing hug, in which he hadn't anticipated and nearly fell backwards. "You have no idea how happy I am now that you're no longer angry at me."

"I can never really be mad at you, (F/n)... Just let Yamazaki know that if he ever hurts you, I will do something about it." I let out a laugh. Everything is going to be ok. Thank goodness. "I promise, when I'm ready, I'll end up telling you what's going on."

I pulled away from him and stared up at him. I smiled, nodding at him. "Ok. Thank you, Haru." That's all I needed to hear. I'm so glad he still trusts me. "Now, go win that relay race, ok?"

"You're not going to root for your boyfriend, now, are you?"

I raised an eyebrow at him and ruffled his smooth hair. "Look at you, making jokes! But, no. Even though Sousuke is dear to me, I will still root for Iwatobi 100%."

"Good." With that, Haru turned to meet up with the rest of the team.

I smiled.

For now, everything is going to be ok. Hopefully the rest of the year will be smooth sailing.

Bonus:

I heard about Haru's internal problem about being pressured to figure out his future weeks after regionals. I wanted to approach him about it but I had gone to the festival to watch the fireworks with Sousuke at that time. By the time I could talk to him about it, he was already gone to Australia with Rin.

When Haru came back though, he was like a whole new being. He had this shining aura about him and he seemed more at ease. I knew I didn't have to discuss about his troubles anymore as he had fixed it himself. He found what he wanted.

"WHAAA?" Makoto, Nagisa, Rei, and Gou gasped once I told them the news that I was, in fact, dating Sousuke Yamazaki since a little after prefecturals. The Iwatobi team and I were currently eating out at a very nice dinner before the day of Nationals. The four bombarded me with a million questions about my relationship with the Samezuka swimmer, in which I happily answered for them. I felt kind of bad that Ama-sensei had to deal with all of this.

"No wonder he seemed less serious whenever you're around!" Nagisa quipped. "That's because you two were together."

"I guess so," I chuckled.

"Why did you not tell us this sooner, (F/n)-kun?" Rei asked me.

I glimpsed over to the sapphire-eyed boy sitting next to me and he just smiled supportively. "Well, I was keeping it a secret mostly for Haru's case since I knew that they weren't on good terms with each other. But he ended up finding out at Regionals."

"Oh. Is that why you two weren't talking at the beginning of the day?" Makoto pointed out.

"That's right," Haru and I chimed together.

"Wow, (F/n)-chan. I never would have thought you two would ever be together," Gou uttered while resting her head into the palm of her hand. "I've heard from onii-chan that he would sometimes sneak out early from practice. I'm guessing that's because of you?"

My cheeks burned a crimson red. "Y-yeah, I guess."

I felt my phone buzz into my pocket and I quickly slipped it out to check the text message I gotten.

From Sou-chan <3:

On my way to the pier. Are you free to meet up with me soon?

A heavenly feeling washed over me as I read the text. I glimpsed up and saw everyone looking at me which caused me to flush instantly. "Well, go ahead, (F/n)," Haru told me.

"Are you sure?" I questioned, glancing around to get everyone's answer.

"It's ok, (F/n)-kun. You go ahead and have fun," Ama-sensei replied with a warm smile, with everyone else agreeing.

I stood up and excused myself. "I'll see you all later. We have a big day tomorrow and I will be cheering the loudest. I seriously love you all." I stalked off to go meet up with Sousuke.

Yes, everything was perfect. No matter what happens tomorrow and how close graduation is for most of us, we're all going to be connected. Not once will I ever doubt that I will be separated from my Iwatobi team once. This goes for Nitori and Rin as well. With Sousuke, I know there's going to be an interesting future for the two of us.

And I can't wait to see it.