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Description
It all happened much faster than Sosuke had expected. His badly injured shoulder had hindered him from swimming, from his dream of becoming a professional swimmer. He had trained so hard only to end up in horrible shape because of his shoulder. It was his dream, ever since he was younger, to become a professional swimmer alongside his best friend, Rin. But now that his shoulder was injured beyond repair, there was nothing that could be done. All of his hard work and training had actually prevented him from doing the one thing that he always wanted to do.

He didn't know how he was going to live out the rest of his life without being able to swim the way that he used to. His dream of becoming a professional swimmer would now become a distant memory. What was he going to do now that he had lost sight of his one and only dream? What could possibly replace his old dream?

~*~

Those were the things that revolved around Sosuke's mind a long time ago. But things were different now, much different. Now he had something, or rather someone, to live for. It all started when he applied for a summer job in Tokyo at a gym where he could give swimming lessons to children who dreamed of one day being a swimmer, or who had just wanted to swim for the fun of it. With a job like that, he would be able to swim without putting too much energy on his shoulder since he was teaching very basic swimming.

The day that he applied for the job was the day that his life had changed, the day that he met her. There was also another swimming instructor, as well as the assistant manager. She had soft (e/c) and (h/l, h/c) hair, and was wearing a (f/c) bathing suit. Sosuke observed her from the entrance for a short time. She was great with handling the children that she was teaching, and they all seemed to like her as well. She had a sort of motherly quality about her that Sosuke recognized as soon as he saw her, even though she didn't seem to be much older than him at all.

Sosuke entered the room and received the young woman's attention when she turned around to see him. "Oh, hello," she said. "Are you the one who was looking for a job here?"

Sosuke nodded calmly, although he felt a slight spark light up within him upon hearing her voice. Making eye contact with her seemed to make the spark even stronger somehow. What was it that made Sosuke feel that? He took a deep breath before he started talking. "Yes, ma'am. My name is Sosuke Yamazaki, and I'm looking to apply for a job here."

"Well you're in luck. We need an extra teacher here on the days where the children come in bigger groups. Do you think you can handle the job?"

"I'll do the best that I can."

"Alright, just grab an application form from my bag over there and hand it to me once you've finished filling it out." She pointed to her bag in the corner of the room. "I'm (Name/Last Name) by the way. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too." Sosuke's lips formed a slight smile as he grabbed an application out of (Name)'s bag and started filling it in with his basic information. As soon as he was finished, he waited for (Name) to let the kids take a break from their lesson before handing his application to her.

"Thank you, Mr. Yamazaki," (Name) said. "I'll look over your application and get back to you as soon as possible. If you're lucky, your first day will start tomorrow."

"Alright, thank you." Sosuke bowed his head slightly to her before leaving the gym. He felt as if he had a new purpose in life, if he actually got the job.

~*~

Sosuke had been working with (Name) doing swimming lessons for the next five months. The more he was around her, the more he was starting to realize exactly how he had felt about her. He wanted to tell her how he felt; he had to tell her. The problem was that he would always get too nervous to ask her out. Everything that he was thinking of saying to her sounded stupid in his head, so he decided against saying it. But it didn't help that his feelings for her were growing stronger and stronger each day.

At the end of the sixth month of working with her, Sosuke finally gathered enough courage to speak to (Name) alone. After everyone left and they were left there to close down the gym at night, (Name) met Sosuke by the training pool just as he had asked her to. "So, what did you want to tell me?" (Name) said, looking up at Sosuke.

Sosuke fumbled around with words in his head, but his mouth decided to blurt the words out for him. "I really like you, (Name)!" Sosuke tensed and averted his eyes from her, now thankful that the lights in the gym were off to hide his blushing face. "I-I really like you," he repeated. "I've liked you for a while now, actually. I just... didn't know how to say it exactly. And I would be really happy if you would go out with me."

(Name) was silent for what seemed like forever, and Sosuke feared that he was going to face rejection until she finally spoke up again. "Of course I'll go out with you, Sosuke."

Sosuke felt excitement well up within him when he heard those words. "Y-you really will?"

"Yes, I will. To tell you the truth, I kinda have a crush on you too." (Name) was also blushing and looking at the floor shyly. "I would be happy to be your girlfriend, Sosuke. If that's what you really want."

Sosuke took her hand in his, smiling from ear to ear. "That's exactly what I want, (Name)."

(Name) smiled back and leaned up to plant a tender kiss on Sosuke's cheek. "Then it's settled. I'll be your girlfriend now."

Sosuke blushed deeper but kept a smile on his face. "I guess that makes me the boyfriend?" He chuckled lightly as (Name) playfully punched his chest.

~*~

Three more months had passed. Sosuke and (Name) were still happily dating and working together at the gym giving swimming lessons. Everything seemed to be fine, but Sosuke believed that there was something wrong with (Name). She wasn't as cheerful as she normally was, and something really seemed to be troubling her. Even if she was trying to hide it, he could tell that something was wrong.

When they were finished for the day, Sosuke placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her around to face him. "(Name), what's the matter?"

(Name) jolted slightly, being caught off guard by him. "I-It's nothing, really. I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me," Sosuke said, taking her hand in his own. "I know you well enough to know that something's bothering you right now and that's making me worried." Sosuke sighed softly and wrapped his arms around (Name), pulling her close to him. "You've been acting upset all day. There's definitely something wrong with you. Will you please tell me what it is?"

(Name) laid her head on Sosuke's chest and kept her eyes averted downwards. "My boss said that the gym is going to be closed down soon."

Sosuke's jaw dropped in surprise. "H-huh? But why? How come I haven't heard about this yet?"

"Our boss told me about it earlier today. The gym will be shutting down because of financial problems. If we don't get enough business in the next few weeks, we'll be shutting down for good."

Sosuke could hear the desperation in her voice, her heart breaking with each word that came out of her mouth. (Name) worked so hard to be an instructor and to keep the gym in business, only to have financial problems stand in the way of having her dream job. Sosuke knew exactly how that felt, but he wouldn't allow (Name)'s dream to be crushed just as his last one had been.

"I'll do whatever I can to keep the gym in business," Sosuke said. "I'll hold fundraisers and put up advertisements around town if it'll help get enough business to keep the gym open."

(Name) looked up at Sosuke, her eyes welled up with tears. "Y-You'd really do that?"

"Of course. This place means a lot to you, and it means a lot to me too. I wouldn't have met you if it wasn't for this place. I'll do whatever I can to keep this place open."

(Name) smiled and pulled Sosuke into a tight embrace. "Thank you, Sosuke. Thank you so much."

Sosuke embraced her as well, smiling and rubbing her head gently. "No problem, (Name)."

~*~

Sosuke had held fundraiser after fundraiser in order to get enough money to donate to they gym. He put up flyers wherever he could in town to spread the word about the gym, and even continued to be an instructor alongside (Name) along with all of the extra work he was doing around town. Every little temporary job he could find, he would do it in order to raise more money. At the end of every day, he would leave the money that he had earned with their boss to go towards the gym's funding. Of course doing all of this extra work was exhausting, but it was worth it if it meant that the gym would remain in business. There was only so little time left to save the gym from closing down.

Three weeks had passed by since Sosuke started doing extra work, and today was the day that their boss would deliver the news for whether or not the gym would stay open. Once everyone had left for the day, Sosuke and (Name) headed straight to their's boss's office to hear what was going to happen to the gym. They waited for the news with bated breath as their boss started to address them.

"Well, it looks like your all hard work has paid off," he said. "You two earned just enough money to keep this place in business."

Both (Name) and Sosuke's face lit up with excited smiles as they cheered and embraced one another. "We actually did it!" (Name) exclaimed as she hugged him tighter. "Thank you sooooo so much, Sosuske."

"I'm glad I was able to help out." Sosuke kissed (Name)'s head and pulled back slightly. "How about we celebrate with a much needed movie and ice cream night?"

"That sounds perfect." (Name) laced her fingers together with Sosuke's.

"You two go relax and have some fun. I'll close up tonight."

"Thanks, boss," Sosuke said as he walked out of the gym hand in hand with (Name), more than excited to get home and spend the rest of the night with her.

~*~

Three whole years had passed since then. Sosuke had his arms wrapped around (Name)'s waist as they laid on the couch watching television. Rin and Haruka had gone off to become professional swimmers, and the race that they were taking part in would come on in the next couple of hours so they were killing time by watching some other television shows.

Their boss had told them just the other day that he was planning on retiring and handing ownership of the gym to them whenever he was ready to leave. The news was unexpected, as well as the fact that he had given them the day off today for working hard at the gym. Now they had nothing better to do than to wait for Rin and Haruka's race to come on.

Sosuke kissed (Name)'s cheek and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Honestly, he couldn't ask for anyone better to have by his side than her. He pictured her as the person he would settle down and raise children with in the long run. He knew (Name) would make an amazing mother from her experience of working with the children at the gym. He could see their future of growing old and happy together. Even if they did have their ups and downs, they would still be able to work it out and make things better in the long run.

He knew without a doubt what his new dream was. He wanted to stay with (Name) for the rest of his life, to keep working with her at the gym and teach other children how to swim, and raise a family with her. It was all he ever wanted for a long time. But first, there was something very important that they needed to do.

"(Name), let's get married."

Description
It all happened much faster than Sosuke had expected. His badly injured shoulder had hindered him from swimming, from his dream of becoming a professional swimmer. He had trained so hard only to end up in horrible shape because of his shoulder. It was his dream, ever since he was younger, to become a professional swimmer alongside his best friend, Rin. But now that his shoulder was injured beyond repair, there was nothing that could be done. All of his hard work and training had actually prevented him from doing the one thing that he always wanted to do.

He didn't know how he was going to live out the rest of his life without being able to swim the way that he used to. His dream of becoming a professional swimmer would now become a distant memory. What was he going to do now that he had lost sight of his one and only dream? What could possibly replace his old dream?

~*~

Those were the things that revolved around Sosuke's mind a long time ago. But things were different now, much different. Now he had something, or rather someone, to live for. It all started when he applied for a summer job in Tokyo at a gym where he could give swimming lessons to children who dreamed of one day being a swimmer, or who had just wanted to swim for the fun of it. With a job like that, he would be able to swim without putting too much energy on his shoulder since he was teaching very basic swimming.

The day that he applied for the job was the day that his life had changed, the day that he met her. There was also another swimming instructor, as well as the assistant manager. She had soft (e/c) and (h/l, h/c) hair, and was wearing a (f/c) bathing suit. Sosuke observed her from the entrance for a short time. She was great with handling the children that she was teaching, and they all seemed to like her as well. She had a sort of motherly quality about her that Sosuke recognized as soon as he saw her, even though she didn't seem to be much older than him at all.

Sosuke entered the room and received the young woman's attention when she turned around to see him. "Oh, hello," she said. "Are you the one who was looking for a job here?"

Sosuke nodded calmly, although he felt a slight spark light up within him upon hearing her voice. Making eye contact with her seemed to make the spark even stronger somehow. What was it that made Sosuke feel that? He took a deep breath before he started talking. "Yes, ma'am. My name is Sosuke Yamazaki, and I'm looking to apply for a job here."

"Well you're in luck. We need an extra teacher here on the days where the children come in bigger groups. Do you think you can handle the job?"

"I'll do the best that I can."

"Alright, just grab an application form from my bag over there and hand it to me once you've finished filling it out." She pointed to her bag in the corner of the room. "I'm (Name/Last Name) by the way. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too." Sosuke's lips formed a slight smile as he grabbed an application out of (Name)'s bag and started filling it in with his basic information. As soon as he was finished, he waited for (Name) to let the kids take a break from their lesson before handing his application to her.

"Thank you, Mr. Yamazaki," (Name) said. "I'll look over your application and get back to you as soon as possible. If you're lucky, your first day will start tomorrow."

"Alright, thank you." Sosuke bowed his head slightly to her before leaving the gym. He felt as if he had a new purpose in life, if he actually got the job.

~*~

Sosuke had been working with (Name) doing swimming lessons for the next five months. The more he was around her, the more he was starting to realize exactly how he had felt about her. He wanted to tell her how he felt; he had to tell her. The problem was that he would always get too nervous to ask her out. Everything that he was thinking of saying to her sounded stupid in his head, so he decided against saying it. But it didn't help that his feelings for her were growing stronger and stronger each day.

At the end of the sixth month of working with her, Sosuke finally gathered enough courage to speak to (Name) alone. After everyone left and they were left there to close down the gym at night, (Name) met Sosuke by the training pool just as he had asked her to. "So, what did you want to tell me?" (Name) said, looking up at Sosuke.

Sosuke fumbled around with words in his head, but his mouth decided to blurt the words out for him. "I really like you, (Name)!" Sosuke tensed and averted his eyes from her, now thankful that the lights in the gym were off to hide his blushing face. "I-I really like you," he repeated. "I've liked you for a while now, actually. I just... didn't know how to say it exactly. And I would be really happy if you would go out with me."

(Name) was silent for what seemed like forever, and Sosuke feared that he was going to face rejection until she finally spoke up again. "Of course I'll go out with you, Sosuke."

Sosuke felt excitement well up within him when he heard those words. "Y-you really will?"

"Yes, I will. To tell you the truth, I kinda have a crush on you too." (Name) was also blushing and looking at the floor shyly. "I would be happy to be your girlfriend, Sosuke. If that's what you really want."

Sosuke took her hand in his, smiling from ear to ear. "That's exactly what I want, (Name)."

(Name) smiled back and leaned up to plant a tender kiss on Sosuke's cheek. "Then it's settled. I'll be your girlfriend now."

Sosuke blushed deeper but kept a smile on his face. "I guess that makes me the boyfriend?" He chuckled lightly as (Name) playfully punched his chest.

~*~

Three more months had passed. Sosuke and (Name) were still happily dating and working together at the gym giving swimming lessons. Everything seemed to be fine, but Sosuke believed that there was something wrong with (Name). She wasn't as cheerful as she normally was, and something really seemed to be troubling her. Even if she was trying to hide it, he could tell that something was wrong.

When they were finished for the day, Sosuke placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her around to face him. "(Name), what's the matter?"

(Name) jolted slightly, being caught off guard by him. "I-It's nothing, really. I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me," Sosuke said, taking her hand in his own. "I know you well enough to know that something's bothering you right now and that's making me worried." Sosuke sighed softly and wrapped his arms around (Name), pulling her close to him. "You've been acting upset all day. There's definitely something wrong with you. Will you please tell me what it is?"

(Name) laid her head on Sosuke's chest and kept her eyes averted downwards. "My boss said that the gym is going to be closed down soon."

Sosuke's jaw dropped in surprise. "H-huh? But why? How come I haven't heard about this yet?"

"Our boss told me about it earlier today. The gym will be shutting down because of financial problems. If we don't get enough business in the next few weeks, we'll be shutting down for good."

Sosuke could hear the desperation in her voice, her heart breaking with each word that came out of her mouth. (Name) worked so hard to be an instructor and to keep the gym in business, only to have financial problems stand in the way of having her dream job. Sosuke knew exactly how that felt, but he wouldn't allow (Name)'s dream to be crushed just as his last one had been.

"I'll do whatever I can to keep the gym in business," Sosuke said. "I'll hold fundraisers and put up advertisements around town if it'll help get enough business to keep the gym open."

(Name) looked up at Sosuke, her eyes welled up with tears. "Y-You'd really do that?"

"Of course. This place means a lot to you, and it means a lot to me too. I wouldn't have met you if it wasn't for this place. I'll do whatever I can to keep this place open."

(Name) smiled and pulled Sosuke into a tight embrace. "Thank you, Sosuke. Thank you so much."

Sosuke embraced her as well, smiling and rubbing her head gently. "No problem, (Name)."

~*~

Sosuke had held fundraiser after fundraiser in order to get enough money to donate to they gym. He put up flyers wherever he could in town to spread the word about the gym, and even continued to be an instructor alongside (Name) along with all of the extra work he was doing around town. Every little temporary job he could find, he would do it in order to raise more money. At the end of every day, he would leave the money that he had earned with their boss to go towards the gym's funding. Of course doing all of this extra work was exhausting, but it was worth it if it meant that the gym would remain in business. There was only so little time left to save the gym from closing down.

Three weeks had passed by since Sosuke started doing extra work, and today was the day that their boss would deliver the news for whether or not the gym would stay open. Once everyone had left for the day, Sosuke and (Name) headed straight to their's boss's office to hear what was going to happen to the gym. They waited for the news with bated breath as their boss started to address them.

"Well, it looks like your all hard work has paid off," he said. "You two earned just enough money to keep this place in business."

Both (Name) and Sosuke's face lit up with excited smiles as they cheered and embraced one another. "We actually did it!" (Name) exclaimed as she hugged him tighter. "Thank you sooooo so much, Sosuske."

"I'm glad I was able to help out." Sosuke kissed (Name)'s head and pulled back slightly. "How about we celebrate with a much needed movie and ice cream night?"

"That sounds perfect." (Name) laced her fingers together with Sosuke's.

"You two go relax and have some fun. I'll close up tonight."

"Thanks, boss," Sosuke said as he walked out of the gym hand in hand with (Name), more than excited to get home and spend the rest of the night with her.

~*~

Three whole years had passed since then. Sosuke had his arms wrapped around (Name)'s waist as they laid on the couch watching television. Rin and Haruka had gone off to become professional swimmers, and the race that they were taking part in would come on in the next couple of hours so they were killing time by watching some other television shows.

Their boss had told them just the other day that he was planning on retiring and handing ownership of the gym to them whenever he was ready to leave. The news was unexpected, as well as the fact that he had given them the day off today for working hard at the gym. Now they had nothing better to do than to wait for Rin and Haruka's race to come on.

Sosuke kissed (Name)'s cheek and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Honestly, he couldn't ask for anyone better to have by his side than her. He pictured her as the person he would settle down and raise children with in the long run. He knew (Name) would make an amazing mother from her experience of working with the children at the gym. He could see their future of growing old and happy together. Even if they did have their ups and downs, they would still be able to work it out and make things better in the long run.

He knew without a doubt what his new dream was. He wanted to stay with (Name) for the rest of his life, to keep working with her at the gym and teach other children how to swim, and raise a family with her. It was all he ever wanted for a long time. But first, there was something very important that they needed to do.

"(Name), let's get married."