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It would be stating the obvious to say that Gou was proud of her brother. After so many years, so much sweat and blood and tears shed, he was finally getting a name for himself. Talks about him being in the Olympics seemed to be in every other sports article she came across, and everyday she could have sworn she heard her university classmates talk about him. In all honesty, the starry-eyed young women tended to not pay much attention to his actual swimming prowess, but to his looks. On some level, Gou could totally understand that. The thrill of seeing muscles flex powerfully and gracefully under soaked skin was one she was quite excited about herself. It was a little annoying to hear pretty much only that about her brother, but she could normally let it slide.
Normally.
"Did you hear about Matsuoka Rin?" asked a voice a couple tables over - an all-too familiar voice that could only belong to Sato Masami, one of the most vicious gossips Gou had ever come across.
Gou bit back a groan and stabbed at her food. She suddenly wished the cafeteria was louder.
"He’s dating his best friend," Sato continued. A pause for drama. "His male best friend."
Gasps and shocked “No ways”, whines and worse. Gou rolled her eyes.
"Yamazaki Sousuke, wasn’t it?" another, more timid voice asked.
"Yes," Sato said. "As if it wasn’t bad enough he’s gay-"
Gou’s jaw tightened-
"-he’s dating a cripple."
- and she froze.
"You mean he’s-"
"He’s a has-been wannabe loser," Sato said dismissively. "He’s studying to be a coach because he didn’t have what it takes to go pro. Matsuoka-san is probably only dating him out of pity - you’ve seen how Yamazaki chases after him like a puppy. It’s pathetic."
How dare she. How dare she say that. This random girl who had never even met either of them? Didn’t know a damn thing about them? Didn’t know how much it hurt Onii-chan and Sousuke to be apart, how much they had to work, how much pain they suffered, just to get where they are now; the way Onii-chan smiled so blissfully just standing close to Sousuke - Sousuke laughing with him. Onii-chan taking silly pictures of him and Sousuke and sending them to her, Sousuke looking peaceful and happy.
She slowly set down her chopsticks and stood up. There that girl was, sitting with her friends - Gou had trouble hearing anything for the blood pounding in her ears but she could see Sato still talking, her face etched into an expression of disdainful superiority. As she approached, she could feel the eyes of the other girls sitting at that table upon her, but she couldn’t look away from Sato, not even when she stopped not two feet away.
"Matsuoka?" Sato raised an eyebrow. "What do you want? Did Matsuoka-san break it off with Yamazaki already?"
Gou slapped her.
Silence.
Sato slowly turned back towards Gou, her dampening eyes wide with shock as her hand cradled her cheek.
"I understand," Gou began, her voice quiet, even, "that as long as my brother is successful, his personal life will be speculated on. But I will not accept people badmouthing him or Sousuke-kun. You have no right to talk about either one of them like that. My brother would never string someone along out of cowardice, and Sousuke is kinder, braver, and stronger than you could ever be. You may be too jealous and hateful to understand, but the reason they’re together is because they love each other, they trust each other, and they support each other. They understand each other in ways no one else ever could."
Gou took a steadying breath, and her next words were pure ice. “If I ever hear you say another bad word about either of them, you’ll regret it. Do you understand?”
Sato simply stared.
"Do you?" Gou demanded.
A slow, hesitant nod.
Gou nodded to herself, and turned on her heel. She had no intention of staying anywhere near that girl.
She exited moment too late to hear a third of the cafeteria break into applause.