"Lifesaver"

Summary: Unable to get through to Rin, Gou fears he's slipping farther away. When she ends up in the hospital though, will her brother find his way back? Takes place around Season 1 Episode 4 when Haruka and Rin get into it at the swimsuit store.

XxxxxxxXxxxxxx

Gou never felt so helpless.

She didn't mean to pry but when she saw Haruka leaving the swimsuit store with her brother she had to follow. Making sure they couldn't see her, she had watched their exchange unfold.

It surprised her to see Rin get in his face like that. Sure he was competitive but it was almost like he needed Haru to race him again. Really race him. Like his life depended on it somehow.

Hearing the desperation in her brother's voice… he sounded so lost.

It broke her heart.

It was bad enough Rin had been ignoring all of her calls but after overhearing this little outburst, she truly felt like her big brother was slipping away.

She just had to figure out some way to bring him back. But how?

Gou was so deep in thought she nearly screamed when the rest of the guys came up behind her.

She was quick to recover and rejoined the group as her typical cheerful self. On the inside though she was still a ball of concern.

XxxxxxxXxxxxxx

That night Gou didn't sleep at all.

She was too anxious to calm herself, all she could do was think about Rin.

She loved her brother more than anything. Especially after their Dad died he really was the rock in her life.

And until recently she had always felt like she was his too.

Even when he moved to Australia he was never this distant. So why was he pushing her away now?

He was clearly working through something, something that had to do with racing Haru, and she probably had no reason to be so offended but she couldn't help it.

She thought that her joining the Iwatobi swim club would at least get Rin's attention but even when she finally got to see him at that joint practice, he barely acknowledged her.

Seeing his reaction to Haruka, Makoto, and Nagisa on a swim team again though did seem to spark something in him at least, so it was definitely still worth it.

But how was she supposed to get him to open up to her if he kept ignoring her like this?

These thoughts stayed with her in school the next day. That along with the lack of sleep was really starting to take its toll, and it was becoming harder and harder to hide her exhaustion as the day went on.

By the time swim practice rolled around all of the guys had taken notice and were starting to get a bit worried.

After Rei's continued failed attempts at learning how to swim, even with his new swimsuit, they decided to take a break.

Nagisa pushed himself up and sat on the edge with his feet still in the water. In doing so he noticed Gou completely zoning out while she crouched next to the other end of the pool, her palm flush against the water as she slowly moved it around.

"Hey guys do you think something's wrong with Gou?" he said.

Makoto and Rei, now sitting next to him, both looked over at her as well.

"I was actually wondering the same thing," Makoto said with a frown. "She's seemed out of it all day."

Haruka was standing behind them drying off his hair. Hearing them caused him to glance over in her direction. He had also noticed something seemed off with her today.

"I may not know her as well as you three but I must say she does seem rather solemn compared to her usually energetic demeanor," Rei added.

"Wait I know!" Nagisa perked up. "Let's ask her if she wants to swim with us for a little? Maybe that'll cheer her up!"

Before any of them could stop him Nagisa was calling over to her.

"Hey Gou!"

No response.

She just kept staring at the water intensely.

The guys looked at each other worriedly.

"Gou?" he tried again.

When he still didn't get a response he started waving his hands trying to get her attention.

"Hey, Gou!" he yelled even louder.

Finally Gou snapped out of her trance.

"Huh?" she said as she looked over at them.

"Are you feeling alright Gou?" Makoto called over to her.

She suddenly realized they were all staring at her with concern on their faces.

"Oh! No I'm fine!" she went into over-hyper drive as she pulled her hand from the water and tried to shake it dry. "I was just spacing out, sorry!"

Trying to change the subject quickly she noticed they were sitting on the edge of the pool.

"Oh are you guys done? I'll go get more towels!"

Before any of them could object she shot up from her crouch and went to turn but in her exhausted state the sudden movement made her dizzy.

As she turned she started to sway and slipped.

The 4 sets of eyes on her went wide as they saw what was about to happen.

"Gou!" they yelled as she fell backwards with a surprised cry.

There was a loud smack as the back of her left shoulder and part of her head connected with one of the starting blocks, the force sending her into the pool at an awkward angle.

Without missing a beat Haruka hit the water only a second after she did, swimming as fast as he could toward her.

The rest of them sprang out of the pool and rushed around so they could help him pull her out.

Haru could see her sinking farther in the deep end as he neared her. He reached her in record time but seeing her completely limp with a slight tinge of red water by her head, he was afraid it wasn't fast enough.

Grabbing hold of her in his arms, he brought her up to the surface and swam over to where the others were waiting.

"Here," Makoto reached out his arms to grab her from Haru.

She was rather light so Makoto had no trouble lifting her out of the water. He gently laid her flat on the ground as Haru pulled himself out beside them.

"Gou, hey," Makoto gently smacked the side of her face trying to stir her. "C'mon wake up."

"Is she breathing?" Nagisa asked worriedly from behind Makoto.

"I'll go call an ambulance," Rei said as he ran off.

Makoto laid his head over her heart.

"She still has a pulse," he said after a second before moving his ear over her mouth.

"But she's barely breathing at all," he said looking back up at the other two frantically.

Haru looked down at her pale face with furrowed brows. Before he even realized his body moved he was suddenly on the other side of her head, opposite Makoto.

Without any hesitation he tilted her chin up, pinched her nose, and began giving her mouth to mouth.

Just two breaths before he pulled away.

All of them stared at her anxiously. Haru waited a few more seconds but when she still didn't stir he bent down and gave her two more.

This time on the last breath her body jerked and she began coughing up water. Makoto helped turn her on her side so she didn't choke.

Her eyes were still closed but her body convulsed as she continued to expel water from her lungs. It seemed like too soon though that her body once again went limp.

They laid her back down flat, all of them slightly relieved now that she was visibly breathing a bit better.

Now that they could take a moment to really look at her though they noticed the faint trickle of blood still coming from the side of her head. And her left shoulder looked pretty bad. It was already starting to turn an ugly shade of black and blue, and her arm was hanging at an odd angle.

For fear of making things worse they didn't want to move her, so all they could do now was hope the ambulance arrived quickly.

XxxxxxxXxxxxxx

Rin could feel every one of his muscles protesting as he plopped down onto his bed.

He had really pushed himself at practice that afternoon.

Even though it was still early, sleep threatened to overtake him as he laid there with his face in his pillow.

Just as he was about to doze off the sound of his phone ringing pulled him back.

He groaned in annoyance but made no move to answer it. It was probably just his sister calling again anyway.

He knew he wasn't being fair to Gou, and he did feel bad for ignoring her like this but with the mindset he was in lately he didn't want to project his frustration onto her.

Rather than try and explain that to her though he went for the next best thing – avoidance.

When his phone finally went to voicemail he was surprised to hear it immediately start ringing again.

"Ugh," he groaned as he rolled back onto his side.

He peeked his eye open and saw his phone lighting up as it continued to ring on his desk.

"Leave me alone," he whined, too tired for this.

When it finally went to voicemail again he let out a sigh but it was short lived as it started ringing yet again.

This made him perk his head up a little as he stared at the blaring object.

That was odd, he thought. Usually Gou would just leave him a voicemail and then try texting him again later when he didn't call back. But she had never called in succession like this.

He couldn't explain why but he suddenly felt uneasy.

Curiosity getting the better of him he finally got up and went over to his phone. When he saw the name on it he was suddenly wide awake.

Confusion clear on his face he picked up the phone and answered it.

"Haru?" he questioned.

"Rin," he said urgently - a tone Rin had never heard him use before.

"You have to come quick," he continued. "It's Gou…"

Rin's eyes went wide.

XxxxxxxXxxxxxx

To be continued.

-J