It would be an understatement to say that Nitori hadn't found the trip he took with Gou to the mall overwhelming. If he had thought the first few days of school had been hectic it was nothing compared to the crowded train they were packed on and the mall – which Nitori learned was just a building filled with smaller buildings – dwarfed his school in ways he found particularly overwhelming. For starters, the so called shopping center had one whole extra floor then the school did on top of a basement – that is, an underground level – that also held stores. The odd windowless building nearby was a parking garage – a winding tower where people could leave their vehicles. Iwatobi had proved to be far vaster then anything Nitori could ever dream of. Samezuka seemed so miniscule compared to all of this.

Nitori had wanted to spend more time window shopping – he was intrigued by all the different store types – something Gou was very excited about. They ended up spending more time just walking around everywhere then actually swimsuit shopping – an endeavor that happened so quickly.

After swimsuit shopping – an hour long affair that consisted of him trying on several more speedos of Gou's choosing before he convinced her he'd prefer the short style instead, Aiichiro finally had his very own swimsuit and they'd made their way back to the food court they had passed through earlier in the day.

Gou had settled on Chinese food, "food court Chinese is the best" and so Nitori followed suit, ordering fried rice and a side of chicken – a type of poultry Nitori had only read about. He'd had fried rice before, but his first bite told him the ocean's fried rice and Iwatobi's were vastly different.

It had been a long time since Nitori had tasted surface food. Rin had given him an apple once – it was crisp and sweet but not like the sweet he was used to – it had been a far more watered down taste (ironic because it was a surface fruit) but held this sort of freshness Nitori felt fruits from Samezuka lacked.

They ate lunch in the food court and Aiichiro had been floored by all the many different menu options and even more so by the taste of the food. It was unique. It had a certain novelty to it – all new flavors – and yet some things tasted awful, especially the foods Nitori thought he knew that ended up tasting far different from what Samezuka produced.

Gou still wanted to shop more after they ate, but Nitori was getting antsy. They were pretty deep into the city and he didn't feel comfortable being so far away from the ocean or at least the schools salt water pool for so long. Luckily Gou relented, grumbling about how she had a curfew anyway, and they caught the train back home, this time with the train being far less packed this time.

On the ride back, Nitori found himself dozing off – Gou fiddling with her cellphone – messaging or whatever, Nitori wasn't sure. The day had been pretty overwhelming, but he had enjoyed all the new sights - sometimes throughout the day he'd realized he was smiling really widely and had to reel in his excitement a bit.

"-than my brother."

Nitori jerked awake – not aware he had drifted off, "Wha?" he asked, tiredly turning to look at Gou who was snickering into her hand.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I said, 'I had a lot of fun today, you were way better company than my brother.' He always whines when I bring him to the mall with me but he makes a big deal when I go alone."

It wasn't often Gou mentioned her brother – sure she'd mention him off-handedly at times but that was it.

"Your brother," Nitori began – slightly breathless, "He goes to our school right? I've never seen him around though." Aiichiro was always looking for him – even if Rin had changed a lot over the past few years, Nitori was sure he could recognize him.

"Oh? Rin? Yeah that's probably because he's on another floor than us and plus he eats lunch on the roof so it's not like we'd run into him."

"Oh… but I thought you mentioned he was on the swim team and I don't think I've seen him at practice? I know there are different practice days for first and second string but I usually see upperclassmen around."

Gou groaned, "Yeah, I know – he's always skipping practice the idiot. I swear he loves swimming and yet he slacks off so much. It makes zero-sense to me, he's so hard-headed sometimes."

Nitori frowned, "That is strange…" he wondered how he'd be able to meet him, or at least see him. He seemed to be doing well from what little bits he heard from Gou – minus the whole, skipping practice things – but Nitori wanted to see for himself.

The conversation drifted off after that, naturally and as Gou relaxed in her seat – presumably taking her turn to doze – he wondered about what he would say to Rin when he finally met him again. He'd already long since decided he would keep the fact that he was from Samezuka from everyone and that included Rin too. Well it wasn't like he could say, "Hey Rin – I'm that kid from the ocean – you didn't know my name or what I looked like, but that kid was definitely me."

Besides that, Nitori was worried he would be hated. A lot of people from Iwatobi hated Samezukans – especially the ones who had lost a loved one to the sea, and Nitori was afraid Rin would hate him for not saving his father. Sometimes, Nitori hated that he hadn't been able to either.

They said their goodbyes in front of the school gates, Nitori squirming where he stood, eager to get into the water. He'd had so much fun but his skin was tingling. Logically he knew he could stand to be on land for a few more hours – the sun wouldn't set for a while, and he could last on land far longer than he could as a child, but the fear and the familiar sensation of that fateful day so many years ago left him fearful.

After Gou had disappeared out of sight Nitori made a break for the ocean, stumbling on clumsy feet as he tried to make it seem like he wasn't running in fear. As he got closer to the pier he spotted the dog from the other day, who was startled awake by his running.

"Hi puppy!" he greeted, not slowing down in the slightest. The dog barked in response before jumping out of its lounge position and darting after him, yapping at his heels.

It might have been cute if Nitori knew better, but he found himself to be startled – the dog had been a lot calmer the other day, simply trotting after him and the barks were loud and continuous.

"Please stop chasing me!" he yelled, gaining speed, but the dog simply picked up his speed as well.

It chased him all the way to the pier and Nitori dove into the water with a screech and let out a sigh of relief when the dog did not jump after him. He swam back up to the surface and stared at the dog who had taken to whining from where he sat squirming on the pier.

"Are you okay puppy?" he asked the dog, suddenly concerned.

"I could ask you the same thing," a voice suddenly said off to the side and Nitori screeched, flailing his arms about wildly as he rapidly turned his head looking for the source of the voice.

His gaze met teal blue eyes – a color that reminded Nitori of the ocean's waters before it stormed.

"Thank you," Nitori chirped. The dog, which had stopped whining when the stranger showed up began to snuffle at his wet shoes once he was back on the pier.

"No problem."

The guy was a lot bigger then Nitori and he subconsciously stepped back, the pup following the movement with his snout. His tail was still wagging but he wasn't barking like he had been earlier so Aiichiro allowed himself to relax a bit.

"Thank you again," Nitori said, nodding at the stranger, "My name's Nitori Aiichiro, and you are?"

"Yamazaki Sousuke. Sorry about my dog. He's too friendly."

Nitori gasped, "He's yours? He's so cute," he cooed, crouching so he could pet the dog and giggling when it lapped at his hand.

Sousuke stared – one moment Nitori was running away screaming bloody murder and the next he was happily playing with him.

"… Right. Well goodbye. Gaeri lets go."

Aiichiro watched in amazement as Sousuke whistled and the dog yipped before running to his heels.

Nitori offered a wave and cheery goodbye to Sousuke who returned the wave half-heartedly before walking away.

Nitori watched them go in and once they were out of sight he tried to whistle like Sousuke had – puckering up his lips and blowing air. Nothing happened and he tried a few more times before giving up.

He hadn't learned to whistle but he had at least learned that friendly dogs chase AND bark. With that final thought he nodded to himself and dove into the ocean's waters.

Tanaka-san from next door asks him how things are going practically daily and Nitori always gives him in-depth answers. A part of himself might have found it annoying, but he knew all the questions came because Tanaka-san was worried. Nitori is sure of this because the old man is always asking him for more details on Gou whenever Nitori mentions her. Nitori has never told Tanka-san whose granddaughter she is, so it isn't like he is concerned about Gou herself. Rather, Tanaka-san's interest in Gou seems to stem from the fact that she is a girl – he's always asking him if he likes her. He probably thinks he is being subtle but Nitori knows he is worried that Nitori might leave one day like his son did. Of course, that was something he planned on never doing. Even if he did fall in love with someone, he hadn't the slightest inclination to leave Samezuka for good – it would be too lonely to leave his family behind.

His mother also seemed to be pretty curious about Iwatobi is like as well – though in her case it's a mix of worry that he'll get bitten by a dog and a mix of wanting to meet a dog herself. Of course, his mother would never step foot on land – she might be strong-willed but when it came to surface talk she always grew timid.

As for his father, he only seemed to be mildly interested in what Nitori has to say about Iwatobi – he hears his fair share of stories at work already – though he has never been to Iwatobi, he works with committee members that have.

Sometimes, in school, kids or teachers will talk about Samezuka – it's mostly negative things, but nothing too hurtful. Once, he overheard two boys talking about how one of them had met a girl from Samezuka once and that she had reeked of fish. Nitori knew it wasn't true, because none of the kids in Samezuka had chosen to go to school in Iwatobi in a long time, but he'd still fretted for a week – worried that he smelled funny – that people could tell he was from Samezuka purely because of his scent.

When he'd gathered up the courage one day to ask Gou if he smelt bad she had said he smelt faintly of sea salt and then laughed and congratulated him on practicing his swimming so much – most everyone on the swim team smelled faintly the same.

School work was hard – especially history – but Nitori enjoyed all of his classes. He had to put a lot more effort forth but he knew it would be worth it in the end. Sometimes though, he grew frustrated with the work and he didn't want to seem dumb so he was hesitant to ask Gou for any help.

It had only been about a month of going to school in Iwatobi, but despite the difficulties Nitori felt like he was settling in fairly well. There was still no sign of Rin around school – Aiichiro contemplated going to the roof to see him but he didn't quite like the idea of being so high up and it wasn't like he could say anything to Rin anyway. He wanted to be friends but in this whole month he hasn't really made any besides Gou and her friends, who were hardly his friends at all. For Nitori it wasn't as simple as just bumping into Rin one day and saying hi. It was sad, but Nitori could wait until an opportunity presented itself. He was a bit worried though, he wondered why Rin had stopped coming to practice. He had asked Gou if she ever figured it out but she'd simply said her brother wasn't talking.

It ended up being a Friday after school that Nitori finally met Rin, and it had probably gone as badly as possible too. Apparently, when it came to his little sister, Rin had business to do. It had only taken Rin a little over a month to realize that the "Ai-chan" his sister had been hanging out with a lot recently was not a girl. Now, Aiichiro hadn't known Rin was such an overprotective brother – didn't know that Rin would jump to conclusions and assume they were dating. All the warning Nitori got was Gou running towards him in the hallway after class, her hands held together in a show of apology as she mouthed the words, "I'm sorry."

Gou skidded to a halt by his side and that's when Aiichiro noticed the guy running towards him – it didn't take much thinking to realize who it was. His first thought was one of excitement – he'd be seeing Rin – the second was fear at the speed at which Rin was rapidly approaching him and Gou – Aiichiro screamed and crouched down with his hands above his head. They were in a pretty secluded area of the school, but there were enough people around that Nitori's scream had drawn the attention of others and Rin skidded to a stop – clearly embarrassed about the people whispering about him bullying some innocent first year. Gou stifled a giggle into her hand – clearly getting a kick out of her brother's embarrassment.

When he had yet to be hit, Nitori peeked up from where he had buried his face in his knees, embarrassed as well at the people staring. Gou helped him to his feet – sticking her tongue out at her brother as she did so.

"Don't worry Ai-chan – Rin's all bark and no bite," it was said in a teasing manner and Nitori turned his attention to Rin whose face was no longer as red as his hair and was scowling at Gou and him.

"I don't approve of this relationship," Rin began and Nitori frowned just as Gou spoke up.

"I told you," she argued, "We're not dating!"

A/N: Well, well, well. Boy has it been a long time. I'm so, so, sorry. I have a lot planned for this story - so much plot. Just so much. But I was stuck in that rut where you know a huge thing you want to write but you still have a long ways before you get there. Reecently I worked on making chapter outlines - I'd had a vague one this whole time but I fleshed out each chapter individually. I've got up til chapter 26 fleshed out and that is jsut barely getting us to the main plot of the story. Wowzers this is ending up my longest story yet. I really love this story and I hope now that I have an idea as to what direction I'm headed next that I'll be able to post more often. I hope you enjoy this as much I have.