Though I've got Hetalia stuff in mind, I wrote this Free! Iwatobi Swim Club fic because I'm recently getting hooked into SeiMako/Seikoto. XD

Anyway, warning! It is pretty long. =^^=

The pairings seems rather crack-ish (with the one-sided child!Makoto x Nagisa and one-sided SeiGou, then it becomes SeiMako/Seikoto and another guy with Gou) but I hope you enjoy it, anyway. :D

Checking his hair again in the mirror, Makoto preened at his fringe; seeing it become rather messy. However, when he tried fixing it, it looked a bit weird to him when he glanced at his reflection again. Giving a little pout, he gave a little huff – sending some of the olive strands to fly up a little bit.

Funnily enough, his hair looked better now.

And this caused the little boy to smile brightly as he quickly grabbed his goggles and ran outside of his cabin to join his best friend, who was waiting for him outside. "I'm sorry for taking so long, Haru!" Makoto said apologetically.

His blue-eyed best friend however didn't seem to mind too much. Instead, he simply gave a little nod before mumbling, "S'okay…let's just go already."

Knowing that the black-haired boy was just acting a little edgier than usual because he was only excited to jump into the lake and swim, Makoto gave a little, tinkling laugh as he and Haruka ran to the body of water, which was the source of all the laughing, squealing and splashing. Once they made it, they saw that the other kids were already coming into the clear, blue water; accompanied by their respective counsellors, as well. The counsellors themselves were having a great time it seemed; from what it looked like, they were all engaging in a game of Marco Polo with counsellor Seijuurou in the middle.

The redhead was chuckling as he began spinning himself in the centre of a great circle that was formed by the kids and the other counsellors. He grinned widely as he shouted in his loud, firm voice, "Marco!"

"Polo!" the others responded, some of the children giggling. And with that, they immediately swam away as counsellor Seijuurou began clambering around – his brawny arms swinging about in the air as his hands groped around for someone to grab hold of. As a result, a lot of the kids giggled and squealed a bit as the large counsellor began swimming around to grab hold of someone.

During that time, Makoto began looking around the bobbing heads for one in particular. Upon seeing a crop of messy strands of straw gold, and a glimmer pair of glowing, rose-coloured eyes, the eight-year-old immediately felt excited. He felt his stomach flip a little when the counsellor in question turned his head to look at him, and not only did he smile at him, but he waved.

'Counsellor Nagisa…'

Upon coming to the summer camp, Makoto had always had a bit of…well, more like a huge crush on the blonde counsellor. It all started when the poor, olive-haired boy had accidentally tripped over a rock, and landed on his front, scraping his knee. He sniffled with tears already starting to form at the corner of his big, green eyes, when counsellor Nagisa had skipped (not walked) over and cheerfully applied a Band-Aid on top of Makoto's graze.

After getting some kind words, and a wide, warm and welcoming smile from the blonde counsellor, Makoto felt much better. When it came time for where which group and cabin they were assigned to, Makoto was greatly disappointed that he didn't end up in the same cabin as his best friend.

The child was upset with it at first, and even Haruka, despite his passive expression, had a sliver of grief that crossed his cerulean eyes, but again, the blonde stranger came over and made the day much better.

Counsellor Nagisa ended up as Makoto's assigned counsellor. Though he was really sad at first, Makoto's spirits were again brought up by the cheerful Nagisa, who not only comforted him by giving him a huge hug, but also asked him questions about himself; inviting him over to the group that Makoto was to share his cabin with for the next few days.

It was then during the group activities, that Makoto stayed closer to his counsellor; simply because he was a very shy child – he was nervous upon seeing strangers (his mother taught him well), and because Nagisa was the only friendly face located. Nagisa however didn't seem to mind the little boy clinging close to him at all; in fact, the blonde quite liked having that little form close to his.

It was a nice change to having four big sisters obviously outnumbering him; he always wanted a brother.

A boy with fuchsia hair had turned around and was waving enthusiastically as he called, "Haru! Over here! Come in already! The water's great!"

"Aha!" counsellor Seijuurou exclaimed as a smirk crept onto his face. "I can hear you now…I'm coming after you!"

He swiped his massive paws down, but Rin gave a chuckle as he ducked into the water to escape the redhead's clutches. Then, he popped his head up from another part of the lake, just a few meters away from Seijuurou, "You gotta try harder than that, counsellor Sei!" Rin crowed as he paddled away.

Seijuurou heaved a sigh as he rubbed his head, but he gave a chortle himself, "Sneaky little shark…you want me to try harder? Well, okay then! Marco!" he barked.

"Polo!" everyone called out in response. By that time, Haruka dove into the lake right by Rin's side. Makoto however carefully emerged into the lake until only his head, neck and a little bit of his shoulders were visible. The olive-haired boy looked around in time to see counsellor Nagisa suddenly pull a mischievous trick on counsellor Seijuurou.

The blonde splashed him from behind. Seijuurou arched his back as he gave a slight yelp from the droplets of water unexpectedly splatter against his tanned skin, "H-hey! What the…?!" he immediately whipped around and began swiping, but he was met with only empty air and laughing. "Geez, Nagisa!"

"Couldn't resist!" Nagisa called as he swam over to Makoto. Wait, he was swimming over to him?! "Hey there, Mako-chan! How you doing?"

Seeing him smile down at him, caused Makoto's face to heat up. He clasped his goggles even more tightly as he nervously shuffled his feet under the water – he was glad that they were out of sight. "I-I'm fine, counsellor Nagisa…"

However, Nagisa gave a tinkling laugh, "You know you can just call me, Nagi, right?"

Makoto gave a little nod, a small, awkward smile stretching out on his face, "O-okay, counsellor Nagi…"

Nagisa giggled; so, so adorable! He then pointed at Seijuurou who was now closing in on his two best friends. "We're playing Marco Polo; don't get caught, okay?" he gave Makoto a wink before swimming off towards the two of them.

Not wanting to be left out, Makoto swam as quickly as he could to catch up to the blonde counsellor, but he couldn't help but feel so out of breath. He was never a strong, prodigious swimmer with the more front-on strokes – he would much rather swim backstroke. However, he didn't want to get caught by counsellor Seijuurou, either – for one thing, the redhead was quite large with massive arms that looked as though they could easily crush whatever was in them.

Plus, he didn't want counsellor Nagisa to see him get caught, either. It would be pretty embarrassing in his opinion.

Seijuurou meanwhile had heard some mumbling that was close by him, and so, he began swimming over to the noise, which caused a familiar, female voice to whisper heatedly, "He heard us!"

Recognizing the voice at once, Seijuurou wasn't sure whether or not he should continue forward. The voice belonged to none other than counsellor Gou – a girl with beautiful fuchsia hair and blazing red eyes; she was both kind and thoughtful, yet can be fiery and feisty as well. Also, she had her little brother in that camp – heck, that very little brother was assigned to his cabin.

The other voice, Seijuurou was remotely familiar with, but either way, he plunged his hand forward to grab it, but was met with air, as well as a shriek that he could've sworn almost punctured his eardrum when he could hear panicked splashing, as well as Nagisa's and the children's laughing again. He could even hear Rin's little cackle as he continued groping around.

"You scream like a girl, Rei-chan!" Nagisa's voice piped up, which caused a lot of the children and counsellors to burst into laughter. Including Seijuurou.

"I do not!" God, Seijuurou could just imagine the look on the bespectacled, blue-haired counsellor's face. For that, the tanned teenager couldn't help but guffaw as well; especially when Nagisa made a high-pitched scream himself, seemingly to imitate Rei when the redhead had tried to tag him.

"It was so loud, too," teased Gou's voice. "I think you almost broke my ear."

"Mine, too!" spoke up Seijuurou as he grinned. "Almost shattered my eardrum!"

Hearing Rei mumble incomprehensively (though it sounded like an apology in Gou's direction), Seijuurou's good-natured grin changed down to a smirk as he called clearly, "Marco-oh!" as he moved a bit forward, he bumped into something far too soft to be a rock. No, it felt more like skin.

And for that, he instantly lunged his hands forward, succeeding in grabbing hold of a pair of arms as he exclaimed in triumph, "Gotcha!"

Hearing the figure he caught give a startled squeak, Seijuurou instantly opened his golden eyes, and for a moment of not seeing anyone, looked down to be met with widened, green orbs.

He had grabbed…what's his name again? He was that kid that was in Nagisa's group, and was Rin's friend's friend. Seijuurou was wracking his mind quite hard here – he was usually good with names…wait!

"Mako-chan!" Seijuurou exclaimed. "Sneaking up on me, huh?" seeing the little boy splutter a little, the tall counsellor just laughed merrily, "Hehe, well, it looks like you're in now!"

"I…" poor Makoto bit his bottom lip as he looked down a little. He didn't know what to say here, but seeing counsellors Nagisa and Seijuurou look down at him rather encouragingly, as well as Haruka nodding, and Rin giving a grin and thumbs-up, the olive-haired boy nodded, "O-okay." With that, he shut his eyes and called a bit shyly at first, "Marco!"

"A bit louder than that," Seijuurou's good-natured voice cut in through Makoto's ears. Though loud, it was actually quite kind and was filled with warm enthusiasm, "Nobody else can hear you! It's okay to yell out loud!"

"Okay," Makoto sucked in some air as he called again. "Marco!"

"Polo!" came the responses that erupted from all around him. Because everything was black, and the voices were from every direction around him, poor Makoto became confused as to where to go, and for that, he called again, "Marco!"

And once again, the kids and counsellors called back in response, "Polo!"

Seijuurou was carefully backing off from Makoto, but a light scowl crossed his face upon seeing the child call out the word again. Though the game was most certainly a fun one, little Makoto didn't look like he was really enjoying himself. Well, he at least looked like he wasn't enjoying being it…the redhead could plainly see that Makoto looked disoriented and confused as the panic began to bubble in the young child's small being as he began nervously making his way this way and that. Hearing Makoto call out the word, and upon seeing him bite his bottom lip upon getting a response as he began paddling himself around in anticipation to find someone, made Seijuurou feel rather guilty for grabbing hold of the kid and making him it.

That, and for also probably scaring the ever living crap out of the poor boy for nabbing hold of him so unexpectedly.

Seijuurou then saw that Haruka was starting to swim forward in a rather fast and graceful manner to reach his best friend. Rin also following suit with the black-haired boy. The redhead observed closely as the two boys from his cabin soon got into a distance that was about two meters away from Makoto. Makoto called again, looking quite tired and defeated, "Marco…"

"Polo!"

Perking up, Makoto began reaching forward to the source of the voices, trying to grab hold of them. However, Rin chuckled as he ducked and dodged; Haruka likewise. Nevertheless, this caused Makoto to become even more determined as he called again in a more confident voice, "Marco!"

"Polo!"

This time, Seijuurou swam a bit closer to the group of boys, and, from the corner of his eye, he could see Nagisa swim closer to them, too.

Upon hearing more voice come closer towards him, Makoto began swiping and clawing the air around him as he lunged forward. However, he gave a pause for a moment as he gave another call of, "Marco!" and upon the response of "Polo!" he finally leapt from his spot, and grabbed hold of someone.

"Oh no! I've been hit!" a very familiar voice called dramatically. When the voice giggled, Makoto could instantly tell who he caught before cracking an eye open. "Good work, Mako-chan!" counsellor Nagisa grinned down at him.

Seeing his warm smile, and being complimented as such, Makoto felt his little heart swell in his body, and his cheeks flushed slightly.

During all this time, Seijuurou couldn't help the stupid smile that spread out across his face upon watching how innocently shy the olive-haired boy was.

That expression was just so freaking adorable.

Once everyone was tired and taken a shower, it was free-time for the kids. During that, the counsellors would either join them, or sit on a table and observe what was happening around them.

Seijuurou himself was exhausted from already piggy-backing no less than seven kids around the room as well as outside the building and close to the lake, and because he couldn't resist the little creatures, whenever a kid would run up to him and request for a piggy-back ride, Seijuurou found he couldn't resist, and ran around the room with them squealing in delight upon his back while they clung onto him.

Some were a joy to carry, some were (he couldn't lie) a massive literal pain in the neck as they clung around his neck, causing him to gag a bit. A few of the really rowdy ones had actually pulled at his hair. It was probably screwed up by now, and he must look like a real mess in front of Gou, but seeing how happy the kids were after he put them down…

Yup, that made it feel more worth it.

And anyway, Gou actually smiled and giggled in that cute way she did where she placed one of her petite hands to her mouth to try and cover it, but to no avail. The one that caused Seijuurou's heart to skip a beat and for his whole being to brighten up.

"Woohoo!" Rin shouted as he waved his fist around as Seijuurou ran with him perched on his back. "Yeah!"

Seeing the redhead tired, Gou stood up and called, "I think that's enough, Rin – Seijuurou-sempai looks pretty tired."

"Aww…" though Rin groaned in disappointment, there was no arguing with his big sister. He glanced up at the tanned counsellor to see him wink, "Hey, no worries! How 'bout next time?" feeling better from that, Rin nodded as he grinned widely, baring his pointy, white fangs at him. Seijuurou couldn't help but stare at them – seriously, how the hell did this kid have such sharp, shark-like teeth? Gou didn't have teeth like that; Seijuurou would know – he stared at her while she wasn't looking.

When Rin ran off to join his buddy Haruka who was drawing with a blue marker, Seijuurou was finally able to plant his butt onto a chair. He sighed in relief as he ran a hand through his red tresses.

Rei simply looked up from the schedule on his clipboard at the older counsellor, "Tired?" the question seemed more polite rather than from genuine concern.

Seijuurou didn't seem to mind that, though. He gave a chuckle as he shrugged one shoulder half-heartedly, "Eh, kinda. These kids…I feel so old around them!"

"But you still have two more years until graduation," the blue-haired boy said as he adjusted his glasses, causing them to glint smartly. "It would be rather impossible for you to have the capacity to feel like an old man, since theoretically, your body is still young in age, and as such, it could bear far more. That, and also because your body is more developed than a child's, but younger than an elderly adult, it should have more tolerance to excessive energy, and—"

"Booooring, Rei-chan!" Nagisa whined as he took the seat on the bespectacled counsellor's right. "Sei-chan wants to relax! He doesn't wanna hear about theories and stuff like that!"

"Hey, Nagisa have you seen Gou-kun anywhere?" Seijuurou questioned as he cranked one eye open to peer at the blonde.

Nagisa nodded enthusiastically, "Yup! She's getting drinks and snacks for everybody!"

Hearing this at once, Seijuurou perked up from his seat, "Does she need help?" Rei also looked up with his eyes widening slightly.

"Ai-chan and Hana-chan are helping her," replied Nagisa as he gave a reassuring smile in the older counsellor's direction. "No need to worry!"

Still not buying it, Seijuurou quirked an eyebrow, "Hmm…" he then leaned over and rubbed his chin, seemingly deep in thought for a moment. However, not long after, he suddenly rose from his chair and began making his way towards the kitchen.

"H-hey! Where are you going, Seijuurou-senpai?!" Rei squawked in shock.

"Gonna check if they need some back-up, that's all," Seijuurou responded with a grin.

Hearing this, Rei opened his mouth to protest, but before he could utter a word or even a syllable, something else was brought to attention.

Makoto.

The little boy had walked up to Nagisa, looking much shyer than usual. It was quite easy to tell the child was the timid type: from how his eyes were fixed to the ground, and how his expression was soft and unsure on that young face. Also, his hands were clasped behind his back, and he fidgeted just a little bit on his feet.

But even then, Rei could see that the boy looked far more nervous than how he usually was. And for that, the bespectacled counsellor wondered as to why that was.

"Counsellor Nagisa—" he began, but upon seeing Nagisa pout a bit the green-eyed boy gave a start as he spoke up, "I-I mean! Counsellor Nagi…" much better it seemed, since the smile returned to Nagisa's face. "Um…" Makoto was fidgeting some more, and he seemed to try very hard to not look up at the blonde. "I…" a little roll of the shoulder here and there. "I um…"

"Yes, Mako-chan?" Nagisa asked with that same warm smile on his face. "What is it?"

"I…"

The next thing that came out was something that Rei both expected, yet unexpected.

"W-will you go out on a date with me?" eight-year-old Makoto Tachibana stammered out as he squeezed his eyes shut. "Please?"

The silence that came after that was ringing and rather daunting to the poor boy. Rei's jaw dropped at what was happening in front of him, but really, though he was still shocked, he should've expected something like this were to happen. He warned Nagisa; that Makoto had a crush on him (though whether this could be called typically precocious since Nagisa tended to act like a child himself, Rei wasn't sure), but Nagisa just laughed at him and called him crazy for the idea. Rei had expressed his concerns to Gou; at least someone was keen on listening to his facts. Gou herself had a much better reaction as she looked both shocked, yet concerned.

Nagisa was a free spirit after all; though he loved hugs, was very charismatic and loved the attention aimed in his direction, he wasn't interested with relationships as of yet. Rather, the blonde preferred playing the role of the matchmaker.

So, when Rei brought Gou as reinforcement to back the worrying possibility, Nagisa just laughed again at the both of them, said that it was cute, but that Makoto certainly wouldn't act upon it – he was a calm, shy and gentle little boy. Doing something like that seemed more like something that Rin would do (to which, Gou had smacked the blonde at that for using her precious baby brother as an example).

Rei and Gou would watch carefully, and it seemed as though Makoto honestly felt that he had a good chance with the teenage blonde. And now…Rei knew that the poor child was going to have to witness rejection.

Nagisa blinked; his rose-coloured eyes were extremely wide. He stared for a moment at the little boy who was standing in front of him, whose big, green eyes were looking so shiny at that very moment.

Then, all of a sudden, Nagisa did something that Rei totally didn't expect.

He laughed rather good-naturedly.

To say that Rei felt shocked was an understatement; nope, the bespectacled counsellor felt astonished. Just what was so funny? He really didn't know, but what Nagisa said next really didn't help the matter.

"Oh, that is so adorable!" Nagisa squealed. "So cute!"

"What's going on in here?" Gou had come in with some pop for them while Hana had gone off to give the children their juice and cookies. Seijuurou was right by her side too, though she noticeably didn't look so happy from before, "And what is so funny, Nagisa?"

Again, Rei was about to respond, when Nagisa spoke up, cutting him off, "Mako-chan; he just asked me out! Don't you think that's so adorable?"

"Really?" Gou's red eyes widened upon hearing that. She quickly exchanged glances at Rei, who just looked equally as dazed as she was. "He did?"

"He did! He really did!" Nagisa buzzed.

"Y-yeah," Makoto nodded, though he himself was confused upon where this was going. "I…I wanna go out on a date with you, counsellor Nagi…"

"Awww!" and before Seijuurou, Gou, Rei and young Makoto knew it, the table they were at, was getting crowded by the other counsellors – particularly the female ones. They cooed, squealed and laughed as they asked Makoto to repeat what he said to Nagisa before again and again.

Poor little Makoto just stood there dumbfounded with his face now an unhealthy shade of red. However, he obliged as he dumbly repeated the carefully thought out and planned request he was practicing in front of the mirror many times before. Upon hearing the amounts of laughter that came after, as well as the talk on how they all found it extremely adorable and so cute at the thought of him asking counsellor Nagisa out, he felt his ears heat up, as well as his tummy churning over unpleasantly.

But what hurt Makoto the most was that counsellor Nagisa didn't take it seriously; he thought he was just, well…being a kid. Either that, or he saw this as some sort of big joke.

'B-but…I was…serious.'

And for that, Makoto gave a little sniff that was masked away from the bouts of giddy, girly giggling and chatter that erupted all around him. He bowed his head low in shame, so his eyes were even more fixated to the ground. Gou however could plainly see that the little boy was becoming upset, and, because she was experienced with looking after little kids due to her having to look after her rambunctious and livelier baby bro, wanted to just take him away from the confusing commotion, talk to him and explain the whole situation so he wouldn't get too upset with the rejection.

Too bad that she was still carrying a tray of pop and everyone just couldn't get the hell out of her way so she could reach the table. Which was why Rei got up from his seat and helped her.

And somebody else acted before Gou could really do anything.

"Yeah? And what's so funny about that? He might be serious, you know – I don't think it's something to laugh in his face about."

Everyone stopped laughing to look at who spoke up with that interesting notion. Makoto himself blinked back the tears that started forming in his moss green eyes as he looked up to see who had defended him just then.

'C-counsellor Seijuurou…?'

The tanned redhead had a hand placed on a sharp hip, and his face was placed into a surprisingly serious expression. Noticeably, he didn't join his fellow counsellors' laughter. On the contrary, he fixed his golden gaze only on Makoto, and frowned at seeing how clearly the boy made his point across, and how distraught he was from getting his first rejection. Seijuurou himself hadn't experienced rejection before (yes, he was still a virgin), but his older sister had gone through an incident like this – she was seven years old when she asked her baby-sitter out. The teenager found it rather funny, and his girlfriend was over as well. They both laughed and found it extremely adorable, but it was clear on his sis' face that she felt humiliated upon the rejection.

And that was why Seijuurou took the bravest and manliest swing he could muster at the older boy who got his sister upset, and his (then) tiny fist met with the thug's kneecap.

And that just resulted in an awkward situation for everyone.

As well as an earful from his mother before getting the full details about what really happened.

And so that was why Seijuurou chose to intervene.

Poor Makoto probably didn't know how to fear the idea of rejection or the possibility of public embarrassment; his shyness seemed more from just not knowing how to speak properly to strangers (stranger danger alertness in Seijuurou's opinion). He was just an innocent child who had a puppy crush on someone he highly admired. And Nagisa really wasn't handling the situation all too well, either – but then again, Nagisa was always a troll. At least, that's what Seijuurou thought; the blonde was certainly funny, cheerful and a fun guy to hang around, but there were times that Nagisa tended to be a bit insensitive or even manipulative of the situation. But in this case, Nagisa may just didn't know what to do, and so needed someone else to do something. Of course, Nagisa never intended to make Makoto feel sad, that Seijuurou could definitely vouch for, but still…

"Hey, Mako-chan," Seijuurou spoke up as he leaned his head down. "What kind of date have you got in mind?"

Makoto's face suddenly blanched, much to Gou and Rei's collective shock. "I…I just wanted…" he licked his lips and bit the bottom one. "I just wanted some ice-cream and…maybe sit near the lake and watch the sunset."

'God…how old is this kid again?' Seijuurou thought to himself as he peered down at the little boy while unblinkingly. 'That's the kind of date I want with Gou-kun!'

Though not obvious, Seijuurou was actually quite the romantic, and he always fantasized how such situations would play out in his head. That he'd confess to the one who claimed his heart, his true feelings, and that there'd be a lovely breeze and the sky would be painted orange as the sun setting down the horizon while this own happened. That the dates would be the cheesy, clichéd ones that were in his sister's and mother's classic 80's romance films – the ones with the violins and the restaurant over-looking the whole view; maybe another at an amusement park. etc. Also, if it was a relationship, the redhead was definitely in it for the long run – he didn't want a fling or an on-off situation: it was either you engage yourself seriously in this relationship (not necessarily fully since friends mattered, too) or just don't bother at all.

Yup, call him corny, but Seijuurou was a romantic at heart, and he only had the best of intentions as well.

Which was what caused him to ask the next questioned.

"That date sounds nice; is it okay if I come instead of Nagisa?"

Rei's jaw dropped to the floor, while Gou's eyes widened. Nagisa blinked in surprise while the female counsellors that came over (a majority of them were female for some reason Seijuurou himself wasn't completely sure about) stopped laughing and stared with gaping jaws at what the redhead had just asked the little boy.

Makoto himself was starting to gain colour in his face from the taller, older boy's question. He opened his mouth to say something, but found that he couldn't utter anything but a little squeak instead. His face flushed a furious red – most likely the same shade as Seijuurou's own hair. But after a moment of regaining his voice, the green-eyed child nodded vigorously and wordlessly, his hands clasped this time at his front in a manner that made Seijuurou inwardly coo at the child.

God, why were kids so naturally adorable like this?

The counsellor grinned at the response and nodded, "Well, shall we?" he extended his long, muscled arm with his hand offered out to the boy.

For that, Makoto blinked at first upon seeing the hand in front of him, but after looking up at Seijuurou's friendly and smiling face, the boy shyly took the counsellor's hand in his. The blush that settled on his cheeks deepened even more as Seijuurou gently pulled him along so that he could finally end up by his side.

Everyone else just stared in stunned silence at what just happened.

For a moment, nobody said a thing and the air seemed heavy save for the children playing around and giggling at the flabbergasted expressions of the counsellors. However, it was all broken when Rin was calling excitedly, "Sis! Hey, sis! Look what Haru drew! It looks so cool!"

Gou had glanced at what her little brother was talking about, while Rei fixed the drinks on the table.

There was a picture of what appeared to be a green-eyed orca with a dog that had flaming red hair.

Scarily enough, Rei could make out a rather crudely drawn penguin drawn in yellow getting slapped by a blue dolphin at the background.

Makoto honestly wasn't sure how this situation even happened.

After practicing for a few hours and eating his cookies for an energy boost, he felt ready to ask Nagisa out. Especially after asking a number of the counsellors what their idea of a perfect date was.

He didn't expect to be laughed at, at all. However, counsellor Seijuurou quickly came to the rescue and defended him by pointing out that Makoto's words may not be a joke at all – that he might've meant what he asked Nagisa (and to which, he did).

And now, here he was – on a date with counsellor Seijuurou.

Admittedly, though Makoto wanted to go on a date with Nagisa at first, looking at the hand that was holding his, this definitely wasn't so bad, either.

Actually, it was really nice.

Seijuurou had brought Makoto into the kitchen, which was off-limits to the kids, and had asked counsellor Aiichirou where the picnic basket had gone off to. The silver-haired teenager responded in stammering surprise as Makoto shyly voiced that he and counsellor Seijuurou were going out on a date. Nonetheless, he pointed out where it was, and both Seijuurou and Makoto thanked him. Upon asking him what he liked to eat, Makoto blushed again before providing his answer – he loved eating chocolate and curry.

It was a strange combination, and Makoto was worried that counsellor Seijuurou would find it weird (Haruka had said how strange it was, and even Rin agreed), the redhead instead grinned at spoke up that he loved sweet things as well, and he placed some chocolate cake and two bars of the stuff inside the basket.

Needless to say, though Makoto knew that Seijuurou was rather kind like Nagisa, there was something else about him that struck the little boy.

And soon, he began to forget about counsellor Nagisa as he and counsellor Seijuurou swung their arms back and forth, while smiling together as the sun glowed warmly; emitting a lovely mix of colours in the sky.

Sitting at the edge of the lake, Seijuurou placed the blanket while Makoto held the basket tightly in his tiny hands. After fixing it down, the tanned teenager plopped himself down and patted at the spot next to him for his young companion to sit. And with that, the olive-haired child complied.

Almost too eagerly, as well.

Eating while watching a sunset was definitely something Seijuurou wanted on a date. He wasn't sure if he could call this escapade with Mako-chan a date, as Makoto was only eight years old, and so maybe he still as a bit unsure of how love worked, and that it could be separated into several different categories. But nonetheless, it was still fun, and Seijuurou quite enjoyed himself in the company of this olive-haired eight-year-old. During that time, Makoto began asking him lot of questions with that curiosity that all kids possessed.

And soon, Seijuurou found himself bombarded. Despite that, he answered all of them the best that he could.

Seeing the smile that finally creased out onto Makoto's face after Seijuurou returned the favour by asking him questions about himself in return, the redheaded counsellor felt much his whole being brighten, and much more accomplished upon seeing it.

It was an adorable smile. So soft and sweet it looked, yet at the same time expressing such sincere gratitude and happiness.

Seijuurou liked smiles, and this was definitely no exception.

After that date, though Nagisa apologized to Makoto for hurting his feelings before, Makoto didn't actually seem to mind.

No, instead, the boy nodded and smiled serenely, "It's okay, counsellor Nagi – I'm okay with it."

But with not many days remaining at camp, Makoto couldn't help but feel extremely saddened – he didn't want to leave now.

Especially after having that date with counsellor Seijuurou and realizing that he was such a cool and amazing person.

It was on the day that the kids were to go home, that Makoto shuffled nervously on his feet again as he gripped the roll of paper that he was holding in his now sweaty palms. However, he tried to tell the droplets to go away in his head, as he didn't want to ruin the gift that he wanted to give to counsellor Seijuurou as thanks for making him feel better, going out on a date with him, and as well as maybe asking him something really important.

Upon seeing the tall, tanned teenager waving goodbye to one of the children who were leaving, Makoto saw him walk off into the hallway after he whipped out his cell-phone. And for that, the green-eyed boy immediately hurried after him, though he stayed silent at first and gave the older boy his space so that he could finish doing his business in talking to whoever he was talking to.

Once Seijuurou finished speaking on the phone, this was the cue that Makoto had been waiting for. He came out from behind the wall, and approached the redheaded counsellor. "Hi counsellor Seijuurou," he greeted with a sweet smile.

Said redheaded counsellor turned around and looked down as he blinked, but upon catching sight of who greeted him, a grin spread out onto his tanned face, "Hey there, Mako-chan! What's up? Your parents here to pick you up already?" seeing Makoto shake his head in response, Seijuurou tilted his own as he realized that the child was holding something behind his back; and it looked like a rolled up piece of paper, "Oh? Then, what's up?"

Taking the thing he had behind his back, he offered it to the older boy. "This is for you," he said, cherry instantly dusting his cheeks.

Seijuurou blinked again, "For me? Really?" he took the roll of paper and smoothened it out to get a better look.

There was a rather scratchy little drawing done in pencil and maybe some marker of the two of them. At least, Seijuurou was sure it was the two of them; one was bigger than the other one, and it had yellow eyes and rather crudely done, flaming red hair – the smaller one had mixes of what appeared to be brown and green done on the hair, but the eyes were definitely green.

"Us…" said Seijuurou as he stared down at the drawing.

"Yeah," was Makoto's simple response as he clasped his hands behind his back. "Our date…"

"Y-yeah," he wasn't particularly sure why, but something just…built up from within the teenager as his gaze alternated from between the innocent little boy in front of him, and the gift he gave him. He wasn't sure what sort of an emotion that he was experience right now was. Well, it definitely wasn't anger; he had the habit of his right eye twitching uncontrollably whenever he got mad, and seeing that the kid didn't run for the hills, he most likely wasn't angry.

No, it was…more of a mix. There was a great amount of happiness that purged from within Seijuurou; he was incredibly flattered that Makoto, though only a child, actually was considerate in giving him a gift before they parted ways, and judging from how vibrant and colourful the picture was, there was a good amount of effort that was placed in it, and Seijuurou was a sucker for those who placed hard work in something.

Yet at the same time, he couldn't help but feel…a sort of melancholy.

Something also surged from within that happiness as he looked at the innocent little boy, and it was more of something that wrenched from within his gut. It was to the point that Seijuurou actually felt more emotional, and it wanted to make his golden eyes water. He really wasn't sure what this even was – maybe he was just that touched upon receiving a gift from a kid? Maybe it was something else?

To be honest, the redhead himself wasn't so sure…

"Counsellor Seijuurou, there's something I wanna ask you…"

Seeing Makoto clutch at the hem of his jacket, Seijuurou snapped out of his thoughts for a moment and upon hearing the child's request, gave a nod to signal that he was listening. And with that, Makoto took a deep breath as he calmed himself down again, before asking, "Can…can we go on another date, please?"

Seijuurou blinked; another date? Seeing the hope that was twinkling in those pleading, grass green orbs, the redhead swallowed the lump that gathered in his throat before taking a deep breath himself and giving his own response.

Sadly, he knew that this would happen.

"I'm really sorry, Mako-chan, but I can't go on another date."

Makoto's little heart stopped beating for a moment upon hearing this. He tried to form the right words to ask, "W-why…why not…?" he bit his bottom lip, now expecting to hear the tanned, older boy laugh at his face or something like that.

"I can't because I'm going to be so busy."

Upon hearing that sentence, Makoto opened his eyes and stared at the counsellor curiously. Seijuurou's smile appeared…a bit sad to the olive-haired child as he continued, "I won't have much time going outside and hanging out anymore – I have a lot of things to study in school, so I don't think I can do anything, let alone a date."

"Oh…" well, at least it wasn't because Seijuurou didn't like him, or thought he was joking all over again. "I see…" he remember that the taller boy was older than him by eight years after all: he was almost an adult.

So unsurprisingly, counsellor Seijuurou would be busy.

Still, that didn't stop Makoto from asking, his voice in a pleading tone, "Can…can we have a date once you've finished studying?"

Seijuurou felt his heart twinge in guilt for the child before him. In all honesty, he knew he was going to work hard in order to get to college, yes, but the course that Seijuurou wanted to come into, would require a lot of his attention. So really, if Makoto wanted a date once he finished studying, technically, the boy would have to wait for a number of years before that could happen.

But even then, the redhead reassured himself, Makoto was only eight years old – it was just a simple, precocious crush.

He would get over it, move on with his life as he grew older, and find somebody who could really share romantic moments with.

So for that, Seijuurou simply looked the child in the eye, placed a large, free hand on his shoulder, and flashed him one last, yet sincere and tender, smile before uttering two words.

"We'll see…"

So many years had passed by, but to Seijuurou Mikoshiba, who was now twenty-four years of age, everything still looked the same to him.

After acing his tests in high school from a good workout with the books, he was accepted into the college he was aiming for, and moved in onto the campus where he had a home all to himself. He made some friends as he stayed at college, but because even at that age people didn't know what to do with their lives, Seijuurou found that the friends he made at college would change over and over again through the course of time as they dropped or picked up the units that he shared had.

Still, as he lay in bed at night, his mind would wander to back home and how everyone was doing. How were his mother and older sister? How were they doing without a man in the house now?

And then there was Gou.

Seijuurou had finally succeeded in getting Gou's number on his second last year of high school, and upon getting it at once, had asked her out multiple times. However, she kept rejecting him every single time, too. Still, he persisted, and finally, it was a month or two later when she at last agreed to go out with him after Seijuurou promised that if she didn't feel anything – no spark, no fireworks, nothing – then he would stop trying to pursue her as she held no romantic interest in him at all.

The date they went on was one that the redhead had only ever dreamed of before – a candlelit dinner while overlooking the city, and having some violin music playing at the background. And it went along quite smoothly.

It was magical and wonderful.

At least to Seijuurou.

To Gou, it was just a great time and extremely fun. Sadly, she didn't seem him as anything more than a friend, to which she apologized, and tried to say in a way that would hurt Seijuurou the least.

Though he understood a hundred percent, it didn't make the blow less painful.

'Now I know how Mako-chan felt,' he thought to himself at that time as he gazed at the picture. Ever since Makoto had given him that little drawing, he hung it up on the wall beside his bed after rearranging some of his posters around in order for it to fit properly so it wouldn't get crumpled, or anything.

Speaking of Mako-chan, Seijuurou would sometimes find his mind drift onto the sweet, little boy who experienced rejection at a much earlier age than the redhead himself had. He wondered how he was now – was he still alone? Was he still shy?

According to Gou, Rin was now attending Samezuka Academy – the high school that Seijuurou had attended while he was still a teenager, and he was also turning sixteen that year. Meanwhile, his best friends, Haruka and Makoto were attending Iwatobi High. Despite being separated, the three boys had a passion for swimming, and loved to go together to the local pool.

A few times during the texts and calls, Seijuurou found himself chuckling at Gou's description of the boys – in particular, she was gushing at how grown up they look now, and how well they've developed. By that, the golden-eyed man knew that the woman was talking about muscles; she always seemed to be drawn to them.

When he came home, he was greeted with welcoming hugs from his mother and sister. After having a fond family reunion with them, and watching some of the classics with his sister like how they used to do before when they were kids, Seijuurou decided to go out for a while and just walk around the neighbourhood – just to see how things looked, since in his car, they all looked the same to him.

But then again, he had to keep his eyes fixed on the road, so really, he couldn't focus too much on what was around.

Seeing that the houses still looked the same, and the shops too didn't seem to have changed all that much, either save for newly painted coats on their walls, Seijuurou felt quite content at seeing everything still remaining intact. Though change was good, having it happen all at once would still be rather startling, even for a man his age.

"Seijuurou Mikoshiba?! Is that you?!"

Hearing the voice, the tanned man turned around and a beam instantly spread out as he caught sight of a young woman who was outside of the convenience store, with her magenta haired tied up into a high ponytail. Her red eyes sparkled upon catching sight of him. Seijuurou gave a laugh as he spread his arms out, "Gou-kun! It's been so long!"

Hearing that dreaded name still seemed to pull on a nerve of Gou's, as she then rubbed her head and heaved a heavy sigh, "Still the same…even after all these years."

"Right back at you," Seijuurou grinned back. "So…how you doing?"

Before Gou could respond however, the convenience store doors slid open, and out stepped two familiar men: one with sapphire locks, and glasses with red frames, while the other was shorter and blonde with rose-coloured eyes. "Kou-chan, I bought all of the things; flour, butter, yeast, milk…"

Seijuurou placed his fingers in his mouth, and gave a shrill, loud whistle, which scared the poor glasses-clad man while the blonde beside him jumped a bit. However, upon seeing who it was, they both seemed to brighten.

"Sei-sei-chan!" Nagisa then ran forward and instantly threw himself onto the older and much taller man.

"Seijuurou-senpai," greeted Rei as he looked pleasantly flustered at the visitor. "It's been far too long! How are you?"

"Doing quite well, actually," laughed Seijuurou. "You guys?"

It was during that time, as they walked around the town a bit more, that Seijuurou had uncovered a number of things. For one thing, Rei moved out of his home and was living in a flat with Nagisa; another thing, Nagisa was doing a part-time job at the zoo where he in particular was feeding the penguins; and finally, seeing how their hands were holding with the fingers intertwined, it was definitely unmistakeable to Seijuurou.

Rei and Gou were going out with each other.

How it happened? When he asked, the young couple were blushing, though Gou seemed much fonder of the memory than Rei was as he also seemed highly embarrassed about it for some strange reason. Nagisa happily indulged Seijuurou with the details – telling of how Rei was apprehensive at first, since it was their final year of high school together, but upon seeing Gou getting approached by another guy, Rei used another student as a pole vault to make his way to her, and finally confessed (screamed) his feelings to her right in front of the whole school. Upon realizing that, Rei almost died from humiliation and the notion of rejection, had it not been for Gou letting out a stammering yes.

Seijuurou couldn't help the thoughtful smile on his face upon hearing that: four years, huh? Sounded quite nice to him…

Ever since he got rejected by Gou, Seijuurou hadn't found anybody that seemed to share the views or ideals he wanted in a romantic relationship. Though the redhead knew he may be asking for too much, he still didn't want to just go on a fling or have something that was on-off.

No, he wanted something true.

True and authentic.

It was also at that time that Gou had spoken to him about the summer camp needing a new coordinator as Mr Sasabe was getting on in years, and decided to retire and run his own pizza restaurant, which was doing quite well, actually. Along the way, he fell in love and wedded Rei and Nagisa's literature teacher. From what the redhead learned, they already had two children together – one was interested in coming to the summer camp. Gou and Rei were busy with other commitments – Rei being part of a regional athletics carnival while Gou was not only going to support him, but was also going to support her friend, Hana who was in a band, and that band was performing in the city for a few days. Nagisa himself was going to be busy with his new schedule as he was assigned to feed some other animals, too – including polar bears.

Remembering all of the fond memories years ago, Seijuurou happily accepted the position. When he asked who his counsellors were, Gou responded that three of them would be people he'd know of, to which, the tanned man had a feeling he knew who it was, but kept silent about it, and left it as a surprise. Seijuurou wasn't stupid – he knew that people tended to judge him because to them, he had a face of a thug, or someone who looked like they wouldn't care about their grades much, but that's what made him study and ace his tests: he wanted to prove them wrong.

When the day came for the training for summer camp, Seijuurou saw some of the counsellors come inside of his house, and flashed a warm and welcoming smile at them to make them feel less tense as they took their schedules and peeked at who was in their cabins and the list of activities during the course of the camp. After all, some of them either didn't look that willing to be here, or were quite nervous.

It was then, that a voice crowed, "Hey! Is that you, counsellor Sei?!"

Seijuurou simply guffawed when he caught sight of a crop of fuchsia hair that immediately ran up to him. However, he whistled upon looking back at the teenage boy who came forward, "Rin! That you? Wow! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?"

Gou's precious baby brother had certainly been hit with puberty quite well – he grew taller, however he was still much shorter than Seijuurou. Still, his face grew longer, and his hair was cut a bit shorter. Swimming had done well on Rin, too – he seemed lanky on his legs, but his body and torso seemed larger and filled the camp shirt quite well. Still, he grinned at the gold-eyed man with pointy and white shark teeth.

'Damn…I'm still wondering how he keeps those things sharp,' he wondered to himself.

Rin then called over his shoulder, "Oi! Come over here! It's counsellor Sei! You remember, right?"

Immediately, two more teenage boys that were the same age as Rin had run over to meet with their old caretaker. One boy he recognized as Haruka Nanase – the boy who loved water more than anything else, and who was part of his group: staying in his cabin with Rin. Haruka was shorter than Rin, but he developed quite well, too – his eyes were sharp looking, but they contrasted well against his cerulean eyes. His black hair still short, it framed around his pale face.

The final boy however made Seijuurou's breath hitch into his throat.

He was taller than both Rin and Haruka, and almost stood on eye-level with the redheaded coordinator, but there were a few centimetres that separated that. Broadened shoulders, and a longer form with a chiselled chest, and very firm, long legs.

However, the face was what made Seijuurou remember who he was the most.

Though slightly longer with soft cheekbones, the tresses were olive-coloured, and a bit messy at some points. His eyes were grass green, and shone with a sincere and calm flame that burned steadily from within. But the smile that spread out upon those full, pink lips upon seeing him…

It was sweet and gentle, yet contained shyness like the one he remembered years ago.

"Counsellor Seijuurou?" the teenager, Makoto, asked in a more hushed tone, his green eyes widening.

"Man, Mako-chan…" Seijuurou breathed. He gave a little chuckle, "You've grown so much!"

All of a sudden, before the redhead knew it, Makoto lunged forward and wrapped his arms around the man that was in front of him. So tender, yet desperate was that hold that enveloped Seijuurou, but after a few seconds, he found himself again, and brought his arms up, embracing him back as Makoto buried his face into the neck of the tanned coordinator with his green eyes softly shut.

Seijuurou knew not how long he and Makoto were in that position, but at that moment, the man knew that this felt right.

It was what he used to fantasize and imagine about frequently in his romantic daydreams.

When Makoto backed off a bit, his cheeks noticeably took a cherry tinge after the rather bold conduct. This action couldn't help the wide grin that spread out onto Seijuurou's face as he gave a little chuckle. 'Still so shy after all this time…damn, he may look different, but he hasn't changed a bit!'

After Seijuurou put the run-down on the camp, and everyone seemed ultimately satisfied from some adjustments being made over which activities to partake in, and who had who as a partner, everyone was starting to head home since it was getting too late – what with the sky being a black sheet with white diamonds studded in the sky.

However, Makoto was the last one remaining.

Even when Haruka left, the green-eyed boy insisted on staying in Seijuurou's house for a moment. Sensing what was the cause of wanting his best friend to stay, Haruka silently obliged with a nod, and began walking back home while Rin rode away on his black motorcycle while waving goodbye to his redheaded once counsellor.

"You okay, Mako-chan?" Seijuurou asked as he arched an eyebrow. "It is getting pretty late; I can get you some dinner if you'd like."

"O-oh, no!" Makoto waved his hands out in front of him. "I can't possibly intrude—"

"Nah, it's fine!" responded Seijuurou as he gave him a thumbs-up. "Nothing to worry about! It's nothing!"

"Actually…" Makoto said, his voice now growing soft as he seemed rather nervous about something – the red on his cheeks from blushing was a dead give-away that he seemed embarrassed about something, but from the soft, yet sure fire that burned in those viridian eyes, he was determined to push through with what he was about to say. "I just…I needed to ask you something…"

Seijuurou tilted his head as he rubbed the back of his head in confusion, "And…yeah? What is it?"

Seeing the olive-haired boy take a deep breath gave the redheaded man an odd sense of déjà vu, and before he knew it, he could see Makoto as a kid again.

Little, little Makoto from all those years ago.

But when the question was placed forth, the image of the small and naïve child Makoto had melted away, and the one that was older, taller and in present remained - appearing before Seijuuro's golden eyes.

"Can I go out on that second date with you now?"

Yup, now I have MakoGou and SeiMako/Seikoto as my OTP's...XD

This was something I just typed up because I as struck with the typing wizard of inspiration. 8D I'm sorry if someone's OOC, I try, but I'm still relatively new to FanFicion writing...TT_TT anyway, feel free to give how you feel about it. :)

Peace out!
- Hebi-Kazechi-10