Three weeks passed too quickly, and yet not fast enough. They all worked on their own training regimes, even Haruka had apparently signed up for one of the freestyle races. They all had trained together for the relay as well, but when the day for the competition came Makoto felt like she hadn't prepared at all. Both Nagisa and Haruka assured her that it was just nerves, but it wasn't until she saw Rei being more nervous than her that she suddenly found her calm.

Funny how that works.

They had all taken the train early in the morning and from the station it had barely been a kilometer to the big indoor swimming pool. Although it was a preliminary for nationals, the atmosphere inside was light and after they had applied for their races, even Rei started to relax a bit more.

"There's a lot of people here today," Nagisa said as he looked at the start order. "but we all are way too early. I thought you said nine o' clock Gou-chan?" he threw an accusing glance towards their manager, whose smile instantly turned into a frown.

"I wasn't lying. See," she said and leaned over to point at the list in Nagisa's hands. "the first race starts in fifteen minutes. That your first race starts at eleven isn't something I knew about. However you see it, you can't blame me." she huffed, slightly annoyed.

"We don't need to yell at each other." Makoto said quietly when she noticed that a few persons had turned to look at them. She sneaked a peak at the list, and true to her word, the first of their races would be at eleven, starting with Rei's butterfly. She didn't envy him one bit.

"Makoto-senpai is right. We should go and find the locker rooms or watch the other races in the meantime." Rei suddenly said after being quiet since they left the station. From the corner of her eye Makoto saw Haruka nod.

They all agreed to sit in the audience, which for the moment was almost empty this early. The first ones to swim seemed to be kids, from what Makoto could see they seemed to be as old as her siblings. When she checked the program again, most of the classes seemed to be age-oriented. That explained why most of their own races where before noon.

She wasn't used to competitions at all.

For about twenty minutes they sat there, when Gou suddenly walked up from her seat. Curious as to why, Makoto glanced up at her, finding her eyes fixated on the entrance where a group of teenagers had walked in. It took a moment for her to realize they where wearing Samezuka's training jackets over them, and another moment for her to realize Gou was looking at her and Haruka with a silent question.

Without even hearing her speak, Makoto nodded at her and didn't even need to tell Haruka before he too stood up, the three of them making their way past the others.

"Where are you guys going?" Nagisa asked her when he saw them leaving.

"We'll be right back." Makoto whispered to the two confused teenagers, who reluctantly stayed behind. She felt kind of bad to leave Nagisa out of this, since he would probably want to come with them of she mentioned Rin. However, Gou had asked her and Haruka, and it was her decision if Nagisa should know or not. Plus it might be good to have someone stay with Rei, since he still seemed nervous.

The three of them made their way down and towards the entrance. Gou walked passed the students from Samezuka, none of them seemed to be anyone they recognized. In the reception however Samezuka's coach stood. Makoto couldn't remember his name and nearly panicked when he noticed them coming towards him.

"Gou-chan, I didn't knew you'd be here." he glanced at Haruka and Makoto "Long time no see, you're here to race?" he smiled at them.

"Hi Seijuro-senpai, I'm sorry to be direct, but is my brother here today?" Gou said and Makoto felt as if a puzzle piece clicked on place when she heard the name.

"He went down the hallway, said he wanted to find some place quiet." Seijuro answered, and looked surprised when Gou started to walk in the direction he was pointing.

"Thank you, we'll go right away." Gou said, but was stopped when Seijuro called after them.

"Wait, why do you wanna know?" he cast a suspicious look at first Makoto then Haruka "You're not gonna beat him up are you?" He asked in a half-joking tone, and Makoto wondered how they really were perceived by others.

"Nothing like that Seijuro-san," Makoto said and shook her head, turning his attention to herself "we just wanted to talk with him. We came off the wrong foot last time we met him." though some of it were true the fact still remained that Rin had been the one in the wrong. At least that's what Makoto felt like.

Reluctantly Seijuro nodded at them. "Alright, if you say so. Can you tell him to meet the team in about half an hour?"

"Of course. Thank you for your help." Makoto said and nodded to him, before turning around and finding that Gou was already on her way down the hallway. She nudged at Haruka, who nodded as they both went off after her, trying to catch up.

They soon fell into step with Gou, who seemed determined to find Rin as quick as possible. Looking through open and closed doors they passed along the way. It almost seemed as if they were walking to a dead end, with Rin nowhere in sight, when Haruka suddenly stopped in front of an open door.

Makoto reacted quickly and stopped as well, when she saw what Haruka was looking at. On a bench inside an unused locker room, laid a figure. The light wasn't on, but from the light from the hallway Makoto could make out the form and the color of the hair.

"Is he sleeping?" Makoto asked after a moment of silence. Looking at Rin he didn't seem to have noticed them, and this would be a perfect opportunity to turn around, avoid a conflict or whatever would come out of their meeting. But Gou had already seen him, opening the door wider and turning on the light-switch before Haruka could answer her question.

Rin seemed to have indeed slept, because his eyes shot up at the sudden light in the room, sitting up and covering them.

"What the- who's there?" he nearly growled, his voice raspy and Makoto wondered how long he had really slept. Rin turned his head towards the door and his eyes widened when he saw the three of them. He looked extremely tired, dark bangs under his eyes and his shocked expression turned to one of irritation.

"What do guys want?" he sighed and stood up from the bench, picking up his bag at the same time. Clearly he didn't want to talk to them either, looking past them at the door. However, Gou was having none of it.

"I can't believe you! After not seeing me for so long you bring back that attitude from our last meeting?" Gou had stepped forward and nearly yelled in Rin face, making him take a step back. Not that Makoto blamed him, his sister looked angrier than she had ever seen her.

"Look, Gou-" he started, but was interrupted.

"Don't try to make excuses! I want an explanation, we all want an explanation to why you've been acting this way." for being so tiny, she managed to block Rin's way surprisingly well. For a moment the siblings just glared at each other, then Rin sighed in irritation.

"This is stupid, I don't need to tell you anything." Rin finally said and walked passed Gou. Only to stop when he realized that Makoto and Haruka was between him and the door.

"Rin." Haruka said as Rin seemed unsure where he should go. "Please, just tell her." he said, and Makoto looked between them both, now confused. Haruka almost seemed to know something, and when she looked at Rin he was staring at the floor.

"I can't-" Rin said and Makoto was surprised when he looked at her, hesitation in his eyes.

"They know." Makoto said nervously, thinking that maybe it did have something to do with her secret. Rin looked a little shocked, but quickly nodded nonetheless.

"Okay, if that's the case..." he said and sounded defeated, as if there was no reason to hide it anymore. He turned around and walked over to one of the benches and sat down, and after a moment the three of them did the same.

"Australia was... not what I expected." he started and Gou seemed shocked to hear that. Before she could ask about it though, he continued. "It started out fine, I was doing great at first. But I soon noticed that I couldn't keep up with the others. I was falling behind in swimming."

Haruka was nodding beside Makoto and she wondered with a twinge of jealousy if they had talked about this before without telling her. This was the first time she was hearing about this, but Haruka seemed familiar with the story.

"If that wasn't enough, I was feeling extremely homesick. I kept thinking about mom, you guys... and especially you, Makoto." he paused to look at Makoto and now she was more confused than ever. If anything she thought Haruka and Rin where closer than her and Rin. How would he else have known this?

"Me?" she asked and saw Gou wondering as well. Rin turned away his eyes, looking down at his feet as if they turned into the most interesting things in the room.

"I told you I knew about you since before I left Japan. I had a crush on you, I still kind of have." he said as his cheeks turned a shade of red, and Makoto felt herself feeling embarrassed at that.

"Oh." she could only reply. That was totally unexpected, and she didn't know how to respond that it was a one-sided crush. "Still, it doesn't explain why you've been acting so weird." she said, opting to change the subject instead.

"Well, like I said, I wasn't getting any better. When I came back I never expected you to still be keeping the secret. That all of you were still hanging together and nothing seemed to have changed, it made me frustrated. I felt as if you were stuck in time and that I was too, not being able to ever get better." he was now looking at Haruka as well. "I was mad at all of you, but mostly myself. I took my anger out on all of you." his eyes now rested on Gou, who had been quiet this whole time.

"I'm sorry." he said quietly with a sigh.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Gou asked after a moment of silence, and Rin glanced towards Haruka.

"I told Haru the first part about Australia, in letters. I never told anyone about Makoto though, it wasn't my place to do that." he said, and when Makoto looked at Haruka with the silent question, he shook his head.

"As Rin put it, it wasn't something I should tell you about." Haruka said with a small apologetic smile.

"Look, I know it's not an excuse for how I acted and I understand if you're still angry at me." Rin finally said and Makoto shook her head.

"I'm not angry at you." she said, and both Gou and Haruka was agreeing with her. "I just wish you would tell us all sooner, instead of going around being angry at us for no reason. I understand that what's done is done, but we're still your friends. You can tell us everything." she said with a smile, and Rin looked up at her and smiled as well.

"You should call and apologize to mom too, she's worried about you." Gou said, breaking the silence. "Before I forget though," she said and leaned forward with her arms wrapped around her brother in an awkward hug. She soon pulled away "Seijuro-senpai said you needed to meet up with the team in thirty minutes, which was" she looked at the clock on the wall behind Makoto and Haruka "thirty-five or so minutes ago. We can talk more about this when you've had your race, okay?" Rin nearly bolted up from his seat when he heard the thing about Seijuro.

"Shit, I need to go." he said, picking up his bag and running towards the door. Before he left he stopped in the doorway and turned to the trio. "We're good right now? We can catch up more later." Rin said and for the first time in a long time Makoto saw him grin like his old self. Both her and Haruka nodded in confirmation, then he was gone.

They all went back to the pool after that and Nagisa and Rei both started to ask them where they've been. Luckily Gou handled the talk and told them about Rin, leaving out the details of their talk. Before they even knew it, their own races were about to start and even though Haruka was the only one to get a medal in his race, which Rin had also participated in and won, they all was pleased with their results. The relay hadn't been that successful either, but seeing both Nagisa and Rei grinning at not being in last place was enough to put a smile on everyone's faces.

As promised, they all went to talk with Rin afterwards, and before they left for their train Makoto had told Rin that she didn't feel the same, which he had understood. Overall, Makoto was thought that the day had gone really well. She hadn't gotten a medal herself, but knowing that she had gained a friend again was enough to make her happy.

The next time they had practice, two days after the competition, they had decided to not actually swim, but to clean the pool and locker room. For once no one complained about it. The competition had taken a lot of steam out of them and resting a bit between was just fine, at least for Makoto. She was the last one left by the time the sun was setting, having completely forgotten the time.

"Makoto, do you have a moment? I want to tell you something." At least she had thought she was the last one. Makoto looked up when she heard Nagisa's voice.

"What are you doing here? What about the train?" she asked him, but he only shook his head at her.

"Let me worry about the train. I've been cleaning the locker room. But that's not what I wanted to tell you." he suddenly seemed nervous, but Makoto was waiting patiently for him to say what he wanted to. She fortunately didn't have to wait for too long.

"I never realized that you were keeping such a big secret. It made my crush on Rei seem tiny in comparison." he said and actually looked a little embarrassed. Slightly wondering where this was coming from, she waited for a moment, but when it seemed as if the younger one wouldn't say anything, she felt the need to ask.

"Have you told him yet?" while it was none of her business, she was still curious as to what Nagisa had done. When he nodded at her with a small smile, she smiled in return.

"I did. He was shocked at first but he took it really well. He said he liked me too, just needed some time to get used to the idea. Well, that was yesterday, but he texted me this morning, saying he would love to go out with me." He had a huge grin on his face and she was glad that they had worked it out somehow.

"Anyway, I hope you realize what we said is true. We don't care about you being a boy or girl. You're still the same person we've always liked." Nagisa said and Makoto was surprised when he hugged her, her whole body leaning down to make up for the height difference. After a short time he pulled away and smiled at her. "Now I must go, for real or I'll really miss my train. But I'll see you at practice next week, so don't be late." he said as he walked away.

For a while Makoto just stood there, not sure what to do now when she was alone at the side of the pool. She should really go home, since she was done cleaning. Before she could even think about putting away the net, she heard footsteps behind her. When she turned around she saw Haruka and Gou walk towards her, both of them smiling at her.

"You're going home, Makoto?" Haruka asked her and she nodded at him. "We'll go with you. I promised we'd walk Gou home."

"That's not necessary, but it could be fun to have company for once." Gou said as she shrugged.

"It's no problem, Haru and I walk that way everyday." Makoto said, wondering why Gou hadn't walked with them before. At that Gou didn't say anything, but Makoto thought that she looked a shade redder, but didn't comment on it.

They all helped out with putting away the cleaning equipment and pulling the cover over the pool, before they walked out of the club, Gou locking all the doors on the way out.

They both walked on either side of Makoto, and for a few hundred meters no one said a word. Gou was each step seeming to come closer to her side, and Makoto found that she didn't mind that at all. When their hands accidentally brushed against each others, neither of them pulled back.

Haruka was surprisingly enough the first one to break the silence, gaining both Gou and Makoto's attention.

"You have decided what you want to do yet?" Haruka asked and Makoto pondered the question for a bit before shrugging her shoulders. What did she want to do? She had never really felt like a girl, or at the very least, not as comfortable as a boy.

"Well, I'll just keep on being me. Because 'As long as you are happy and in one piece, it doesn't matter' -right Haru? And just being myself makes me happy." she said and couldn't help the smile that blossomed in her face.

"I think that sounds pretty nice." Gou said and Haruka nodded beside her. She felt Gou's hand hesitatingly take a hold of her own, and she blushed as she squeezed it in return.

Being herself and being surrounded by her friends, that's what made her the happiest.

Woooo! Long overdue, but I am finally finished with this story. It started out as a simple idea that grew out of my control, then life happened and I lost motivation for the story as well as the fandom, but I promised I would finish it and I hope I tied it up nice with no loose ends and that you feel a closure from the ending. Thank you all for following my first ever multichaptered story and that you have enjoyed the story :) Thank you all for the lovely comments, keeping me inspired and wanting to finish the story.