Free!Dom (Free! Fanfic/ONC Entry)

Queen Bee

She found the desert in front of her unappetizing.

Instead, Gou stared at the desert Haruna bought for her, yet in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but think Haruna was attempting to buy her rather than attempting to cheer her up. Gou's hair was still slightly damp from her near drowning, yet she knew the entire school would be gossiping about the incident the next few days, but other students seeing her leave with Haruna didn't help.

Haru seemed agitated he wasn't invited in going on, yet Haruna assured him that her bodyguards would, in fact, be with her and that he should, in fact, go on home. Gou heard of high school students having live in girlfriends yet wondered how the school wasn't objecting. Worse, Amakata sensei overheard Haruna when she said this yet acted as if said situation wasn't happening.

Gou now found herself in Haruna's favorite café in sweats borrowed from the school she changed into staring at the desert Haruna purchased for her while her hands rested on her legs. She found the experience unsettling but didn't like the attention being with a local celebrity like Haruna brought. Despite the sunglasses, she was quickly identified and Gou saw the customers around them and those passing outside stopping to gossip.

In fact, Haruna's presence seemed to draw in more customer for the business just so they could gawk at her, yet Gou felt quite conscious about sitting there in the borrowed sweats. The only positive to the situation was the fact the sweats were, in fact, clean, but she wasn't sure what coming to Haruna's favorite hometown spot achieved. Why Haruna even wanted to share that she didn't know, yet Gou couldn't help but feel as if Haruna was attempting to manipulate her.

"So, are you going to eat?" Haruna let out a deep breath. Gou glanced up and saw Haruna sitting there having taken a few bites of her own desert, but her arms were crossed. The look on her face indicated she was annoyed. "Okay. I'm going to jump to the point there." Haruna looked up so Gou was forced to look into her blue eyes. "I was trying to figure out what Haru sees in you, but you're awful quiet. There's nothing interesting about you at all."

Gou felt her jaw drop and her throat tightened. She swallowed in an attempt to push back the negative feeling and sat up straight. Her hands lifted up from her lap and gripped the table tightly, yet she wasn't sure how to respond to Haruna's comment. In the back of her mind, she worried Haruna picked up on the fact she was interested in Haru, yet in that very moment she found to herself she actually liked Haru. This made her eyes glance down at the table.

"Of course..." Haruna let out a deep breath. "It was stupid to think you'd be interested in him. What girl would be?"

Haru's head darted up. "What?"

"You heard me. Haru's weird."

Gou stood up quickly slamming her hands down. "You! You're as awful as they say!"

"Excuse me?" Haruna let her eyes widen slightly, yet kept her ladylike demeanor.

"You're only dating Haru to use him, aren't you?"

"Hold on."

Gou wasn't going to listen and simply grabbed her school bag. She felt more like her usual self. "No. There's plenty of reason why someone would like Haru and not just because he's super handsome. If you don't know that, well..."

She turned and walked out of the café, yet she still felt like crying. She was glad Haruna didn't follow after her and yet she wasn't sure what to do. She headed towards the train so she could ride to her part of town, but when she sat down her phone went off. She reached in and answered. "Hello?"

"Gou?"

"Rin?"

"Why the hell didn't you call me after you almost drowned in your school pool? You didn't think I'd want to know?"

"I..."

"I had to find out because Makoto called. He tried getting ahold of me on my cellphone, but when he couldn't do that he contacted my school."

"I'm fine."

"Thanks to Haru you are. And what's this about going to a café with Haruna? She's..."

"I know. I hate her."

"Because you think she and Haru are dating?" Rin let out a deep breath on the other side. "Gou..."

"They are! She's also using Haru. She said she didn't see why any girl would be interested in him, but Haru is very sensitive towards others even though he is eccentric and he's enjoyable to be around. She also said there's no way Haru would be interested in me." Gou felt her voice strain slightly. "I get that I'm nowhere near her league, but..."

"Gou..."Rin's voice strained. "Please tell me..."

"I like Haru, Rin. I like him a lot." Gou's mouth twisted slightly.

"Gou, I think there's a misunderstanding..."

"No. I completely understand my feelings. Don't tell me I don't."

"That's not..."

"Don't tell me it is true."

"We'll talk during the meet up between our two swim teams tomorrow."

"What?" Gou's throat tightened. "I didn't plan any meetup."

"I know you didn't. Our captain arranged it because he's the person who took the call, but he wants to see if you're okay. Don't confront either Haru or Haruna until I talk to you tomorrow."

"I already confronted her and told her what I thought."

"You did what?" Rin's voice strained. "Gou, I don't like her, but..."

"I've got to do something. I don't want Haru to get hurt."

"Do not talk to him about this until after I talk to you tomorrow. Goodness knows I'm hoping she doesn't say anything to him tonight about what you did."

"You know that they're living together? Don't you care that..."

"I didn't know she'd returned until I found out you'd almost drowned!" Rin yelled. "Do not talk to anyone else about this until I talk to you tomorrow, got it?"

"Fine."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

"You know I'll be really ticked off if you if you don't keep your mouth shut."

"You don't have to be so mean." Gou's mouth twisted in frustration. His mood improved since reigniting his friendship with Haru, Nagisa, and Makoto, but this was far from being a good mood.

"Then don't make me be the mean older brother Gou."

"Fine."