Chapter Text
Sometimes it was hard to get through practice when your captains so blatantly flirted.
It had been somewhat subtle at first, Asako noted, yet over time the blooming romance of Rei and Nagisa was so evident that he couldn't believe they weren't already married.
Alright, that was somewhat of an exaggeration.
Yet that didn't dull the fact that it was truly a struggle to watch his senpais ignore their feelings on a day-to-day basis. It was in the subtle way that Nagisa's pale face glowed pink whenever Rei pointed out the highlights of his swimming, or each time when the hyperactive blond talked (and even when he wasn't) the bespectacled swimmer gazed admiringly at his friend. They seemed to understand each-other, and were more relaxed with one another than anyone else, and it was just so obvious and annoying.
Unfortunately Asako was a hopeless romantic, in a way, which didn't help either. He was very careful to notice each time Rei was startled by Nagisa's exuberance or the petite boy would nuzzle his head pleadingly into his fellow captain's side. It made the misfortune of the established 'platonic' relationship so much more painful. Why neither of the two had made a move he didn't understand, and it also continued to baffle him that none of the other members had said anything.
The first year ran a careful hand through his navy hued hair, and took a brief moment to enjoy the warm sun at his back. It was a nice break from the enigma that was his captains, yet no amount of golden liquid light could distract his inner turmoil.
"Oi, Asako, what's wrong?" the swimmer in question gave a brief breath of recognition, turning to see a pair of chocolate brown eyes focused his way. Practice had just finished up, and the new members of the team were making their way into downtown Iwatobi. As celebration to a successful first month, they had decided to splurge on a sushi dinner.
He clenched his teeth in response, having one serious mental battle over if he should tell his friends about his wistful burden. It seemed only reasonable, and Asako couldn't exactly ignore his friend's inquiry, so he gave up an annoyed sigh, "I was just thinking about Rei-senpai and Nagisa-senpai."
Hideki gave a rolling glance towards the cobalt-haired boy, ignoring his words. Fujitaka, on the other hand, seemed genuinely concerned, eyes bright as he turned to the tallest of the three, "Ah, were you, Asako-san? Is something wrong? Did they approach you about your swimming?" A light summer breeze rustled the emerald green leaves of a tree above them, causing one to bomb downwards and slap Asako directly in his eye. He gave a high-pitched yell of surprise, wasting no time to flail about like a misguided child and rid himself of the assaulter. Fujitaka gave a hearty, bubbling laugh as the brunet simply gave his teammate a condescending smile.
Finding himself even more annoyed than before, Asako huffed and gave a bitter explanation, "No! I wouldn't let something stupid like that get to me. It's just..." the boy paused, biting down on his lip in anticipation. Having recovered from his chuckling fit, Fujitaka leaned in with baiting breath for the ocean-haired boy's continuation, "Have either of you noticed anything weird about them?"
"If you mean the fact that they're in love- then yes! It would take someone blind as shit not to get that. I mean, have you seen the way Rei-senpai looks at Nagisa-senpai? Gee, get a room-"
"You can't be serious," Hideki's monotonous voice broke the rant of his excitable comrade, amber gaze steady.
Asako and Fujitaka nearly turned to the traitor in unison, mouths gaped open in a shameless display of surprise.
"How could you-"
"Are you stupid or-"
The two breathed at once, their voices flustered by disbelief. The brunet raised his eyebrows in response, and Asako couldn't help but want to grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him. Fujitaka, the oblivious and absent-minded boy he was, hadn't even failed to notice their indisputable displays of romanticism. He couldn't help but slap his palm to his forehead, stopping walking all together. This was too much to handle.
"Hideki-san, are you saying... are you saying that you sense no tension whatsoever between Rei-senpai and Nagisa-senpai at all?"
"...Yes."
The olive haired teen beside them gave a start, absolutely astonished at his friend's reaction, "You have to be joking! They don't go one moment without gazing sappily at each-other. You would think Rei-senpai would've turned into a lobster from all the blushing he does!"
Asako raised a quizzical hand to his friend's somewhat ridiculous outburst, but most of him agreed with Fujitaka.
Before either of them could argue their case, Hideki spoke, "Our captains are just friends, there's nothing you could say to persuade me."
It was unbelievable that the brunet thought of Rei and Nagisa as utterly platonic. The evidence was indisputable! One of them had to make a move sooner or later!
Less irritated by the couple's earlier ignorance, and more by his friend's reluctance to see the truth, Asako hushed his voice and turned to the shortest first year, charcoal eyes brightly intense, "Fujitaka-san, we need to do something! This has gone on long enough."
The sage haired swimmer gave an enthusiastic nod, hands brought up in passionate fists, "Right! But... what do we do? Rei-senpai and Nagisa-senpai don't know they love each other, and neither does Hideki-san, and-"
"Oi, you two need to be quieter. I can hear you." the chocolate eyed boy snapped, arms crossed indignantly across his chest while the other two whispered scandalously to each-other.
Asako nipped nervously at his lips, straightening up with a fluttering panic. They had only been a part of the swim team for 3 weeks, so any gameplay was risky, and what could they do any way? With one non-believer and two clueless romantics any scheme they had would turn up quite disastrous.
Yet if they were to be the game-makers instead of the players...
"I got it!" Asako blurted out, indigo hair bouncing spiritedly, "Let's be matchmakers!"
"Matchmakers!"
"Matchmakers?"
The boy continued on, feeling a warm fire erupt in his stomach as ideas swelled his brain, "Mhm! We don't know a lot about romance, but Rei-senpai and Nagisa-senpai do. We can't get them to confess their feelings now, yet with a little persuasion I think they'll go about it themselves."
Fujitaka seemed to catch on to his mischievous scheme almost instantly, "Alright! If we give them a little push," he winked for emphasis, "in the right direction then they're sure to be dating by the end of the season!"
Both teammates positively glowed, facing Hideki with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes, to which the brunet gave a puzzled countenance, "Are you two suggesting that you force Rei-senpai and Nagisa-senpai to become a couple?"
That sounded a little negative.
Asako hopped on the case quickly before Fujitaka could say anything embarrassing, a certain determination coloring his face, "N-no! Not like that! We would just do little things so they started noticing."
"Exactly! Oh! We could pretend to leave them notes, or push them in-to each other, or help them confess- and then before you know it we'll have a legendary romance!" The petite teen rushed, not truly taking time to formulate his words before he spoke. Asako turned to the fern haired boy with an encouraging grin, and liked every idea that was thrown out.
Both turned, with baited breath, to face Hideki- once again putting all the pressure on their comrade.
The partners in crime felt just as warm as the sun on their backs when the brunet sighed, "Fine. I'll help- but only so you two don't act stupid."
Fujitaka rushed forward to clasp Hideki's hands as if he had just won an award, the swimmer looking on the verge of tears, "Really? Amazing! We need to start right away! We can't let Nagisa-senpai and Rei-senpai know, but we can't waste time- but we also don't want to rush into things. What is a good first step? I mean, Asako-san what do you think? Do-"
"Don't get ahead of yourself." The cautious brunet instructed, caramel eyes sincere as he watched over his excitable teammates. The cobalt haired boy simply sighed, still fairly sour that Hideki couldn't see their affections.
Asako knew that if his captains weren't in love, Rei wouldn't have agreed to being doused by ice cold water during the club assembly, and knew that Nagisa would have become complacent in his studies after a week. If they had had the time, Asako would have launched into a long explanation of their daily flirting. Yet the cool embrace of a sweet breeze brought the teen back into reality, and he opened his mouth to speak.
"We need a procedure, Fujitaka-san is right. But first we must test the waters!"
The olive haired swimmer beside him nearly burst at the seams, eyes alight, "Test the waters! That's genius, Asako-san! If we could push one of them into the pool, or at least into each-other, then we can gage a reaction! In a best case scenario it would give them a chance to look into each-other's eyes and-"
Hideki breathed gently, and the cobalt-haired swimmer turned to his friend, "That..." the brunet spoke hesitantly, "isn't that bad of an idea."
Fujitaka gave a toothy grin while Asako simply felt his features relax; the two grateful for their teammate's (although reluctant) guidance.
"It's settled! The Iwatobi Matchmaking Club is official!" the tall teen finalized, proudly standing up straighter. Asako couldn't help but feel a bright beam of pride, yet then his mind started racing. How would they go about this? What if it backfired? Were they even really sure the two captains were in love? A gentle summer breeze seemed to null all these worries, though, as it gave a stir to the bright emerald leaves and pushed the puffy clouds across their blue sky. The swimmer sighed in response, and nodded.
"Step one- push one of our captains down!"
☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆
Nagisa set down his pink mechanical pencil- earning a questioning glance from his friend. The two had been diligently studying in Rei's bedroom when all of a sudden the blond felt an unnerving shiver pass through his body.
The bespectacled boy gave a start, "Nagisa-kun, what's wrong? Are you too cold? Ah, I told you you shouldn't wear-"
The sakura eyed swimmer held up a commanding hand for silence to which his companion gave an offended sputtering of words, but Nagisa pressed on, unable to shake the chill. It wasn't the temperature of the room, and he wasn't sick, but-
"Rei-chan?"
"Yes, Nagisa-k-"
"What do you think of the new first years?" He asked, a determined glimmer in his wide eyes. Rei could only raise his eyebrows in response, completely befuddled at why such a question came completely out of the blue. With a sigh, he thought of an appropriate response and pushed his glasses up.
"I suppose they're fine. Fujitaka-kun is the only one I worry about, partially because his hyperactive behavior, yet their addition to the club has saved our status." the cobalt-haired captain reasoned.
Very logical. Very Rei-chan.
Unfortunately, the bubbly blond was not happy with this response, and pouted his cheeks in irritated thought. His intuitive shiver had alarmed him that something was seriously wrong- there was mischief afoot and his radar was blinking red. Nagisa shifted through the many files of his mind, tying to match the sensation to something that made a lick of sense, but he couldn't find anything.
Then it hit him.
"Rei-chan, I don't trust them."
The taller boy was very used to his co-captain's behavior by this time, and fondly rolled his violet eyes, "What a ridiculous thing to say, Nagisa-kun. You can't be serious, what's wrong with them?"
A blush threatened Nagisa's pale face, his maroon eyes positively shining at this point, "Don't say that, I'm not joking!" he leaned forward on the petite table, now face-to-face with his teammate.
"Rei-chan, this is serious. We need to prepare ourselves."