Work Text:
It was another good day of practice for Inazuma Eleven. The team was reinvigorated from their last practice match; most folks on the team got their hissatsus down perfectly, Kazemaru was becoming even faster by the day, and Kabeyama’s The Wall had become even more of a defensive threat. Endou, of course, continued working on the newest goalkeeping technique. The Aliea Academy teams were becoming much tougher, and stronger moves were in order. Luckily, it seemed they were on the right path.
At least, most of them did. Endou’s eyes always turned to Fubuki every time he’d catch the Legendary Striker talking to himself on the field. He wasn’t necessarily concerned about Fubuki’s soccer playing abilities. No, Fubuki was an excellent defender and a fantastic forward. Or, rather, Atsuya was the fantastic forward.
But Atsuya was giving Fubuki problems on the daily, every single match, and Endou couldn’t help but be worried for his new friend. After all, Fubuki wasn’t exactly the most willing to tell people what was going on. Endou couldn’t really blame him – it wasn’t like people on the team knew anything about multiple personalities. In fact, before meeting Fubuki, Endou had fully believed multiple identities was something only seen in books or movies. But no, sure enough, it was real. He was fascinated by it at first, excited for the possibility of Shirou and Atsuya working together. But whatever they were doing was not working together. In fact, their daily quarrels were distracting the team, and more importantly, tormenting Fubuki.
It happened three times before Endou realized he had to give a friendly intervention. The first time, Someoka had attempted to pass to the distracted Fubuki; the failed pass only worsened the tension between the two strikers. The second time, their internal fighting turned external and Fubuki had to go on the bench to decompress. And the third time, Endou had encouraged Atsuya to curb the rough plays, and Atsuya lashed out at him instead.
Endou was no therapist. In fact, his solutions to most of his friends’ problems was “let’s play soccer!” But it was soccer itself that was tormenting both Shirou and Atsuya. Maybe there was something else he could do… maybe there was a way to break through their icy exterior and make better friends with Fubuki.
Or, better yet – maybe there was a way to make friends with Atsuya!
Endou smiled widely at the possibility, as the team began packing their things and heading to dinner for the afternoon. Fubuki of course followed them, still keeping to himself. Now was the perfect time.
“Fubuki! Could you come here for a minute?” Endou called over. Fubuki looked over, a puzzled look on his face, walked on over to his captain.
“Is something wrong, Endou?” Fubuki asked. Of course he probably knew the answer. Though, Fubuki probably wasn’t quite sure what incident Endou would talk to him about. “Were our plays too rough this time around? We’ll, uh, I’ll try to tone it down from now on.”
“Nope! Your plays today were great. Your shoots are incredible!” Endou spoke with a wide grin on his face. His smile quickly fell as he realized he said something he shouldn’t have. “Ah, well, I guess Atsuya’s shoots are, but, well—”
Fubuki chuckled, entirely able to save Endou from the slip-up. “Don’t worry, Endou. Glad my shoots were okay. Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Well, I…” Endou paused. What was he even going to ask? “I was, uh, wondering if you wanted to… well, take a walk after dinner? I had some, uh, things I wanted to ask you.” He absolutely sounded like he was asking Fubuki on a date – not that Endou could tell for himself. Self-awareness or restraint wasn’t exactly a skill of his. Fubuki looked at Endou curiously, wondering what the heck Endou was getting at. “Just about… soccer! Yeah! I wanted to run a new hissatsu by you!”
Fubuki raised an eyebrow. Of course, he knew that Endou almost always thought about soccer, but he was able to easily tell there was something… off about his strange request. “Uh, sure, yeah, meet you back here after dinner. Is everything okay!”
Endou sighed and quickly wiped the nervous sweat off his face. “Yeah, of course! Just wanted to get your thoughts. See you soon!”
~~
Endou could barely eat dinner as it was, being way too nervous for his “talk” with Fubuki. Would he react poorly? Would Atsuya come out and attack him as well? Endou couldn’t lie and say he was going into this completely unsure of himself. Then again, as he’d always say, it’d surely work out. Fubuki wasn’t a completely unreasonable person; and even though he’d often keep to himself, it wasn’t like he was completely closed off. Endou had to hope that he’d be able to help Fubuki at least somewhat. He didn’t like seeing his teammates – his friends – in significant pain.
“Captain?” Endou shouted, completely jolted out of his thoughts as Fubuki approached him from behind. “Ah, didn’t mean to scare you, sorry.”
“N-no worries! I was just thinking about, ya know, soccer.” Endou laughed it off, hoping that Fubuki would buy it. For once, Endou was not thinking about soccer.
Fubuki laughed gently. “That seems about right. What did you want to talk about, though?”
“Uh, well…” Endou bit his lip, trying to think how to begin. “You know, I’ve been watching you during practice. It always seems like something’s on your mind, and I was just wondering if you wanted to talk to me about it.”
“Oh, do I seem… not focused?” Fubuki asked, a concerned look on his face.
“No, it’s not that! Well, I guess, kind of. But I’m more just worried about you, Fubuki. As your captain, but also as your friend.” Endou tried to explain as best he could, hoping that he was doing a good job. Heart-to-heart talks like this weren’t exactly his specialty, unless they were entirely about soccer. “I just want to make sure you feel like you can tell me things, y’know? I want to make sure you can enjoy soccer! Soccer’s meant to be fun, not something that brings you pain.”
Fubuki looked away from Endou. It was clear he didn’t exactly like being confronted like this. Endou didn’t think this sounded like a confrontation. Did it?
He wasn’t making Fubuki uncomfortable, right? He just wanted to help.
“It’s Atsuya,” Fubuki finally responded. “I suppose it’s hard to play when there’s two of me sharing a body. We both want very different things, y’know?”
“You mean, like how Atsuya is a forward and Shirou is a defender, right?”
“Well… I suppose in soccer terms, yeah,” Fubuki shrugged. “But also, Shirou – me – is the one who wants to hang out and take things slowly. Atsuya is the exact opposite. If we’re not winning – if I’m not winning – he just becomes more violent, more angry, more… out there. It’s hard to explain, I don’t think you’d really get it.”
Fubuki was about to walk away in resignation, before Endou grabbed his wrist and stopped him. “I may not understand, Fubuki, but I want to! I want to help you, okay?”
Fubuki looked away. “What can you do, though? It’s not like I can control it. What could you do that I can’t?”
“I… I…” Endou began trying to think of something. What could he do? He just blurted out the first thing that came to mind, unsure if it was a good idea or not. “Let me talk to Atsuya!”
“Huh?” Fubuki exclaimed, looking back to Endou. “You want to talk to Atsuya? You’re… serious?”
“Yeah! If I can help Atsuya be less angry, then I can help Shirou, as well!” The more Endou talked, the more this seemed like a good idea. Atsuya only came out during soccer practice or games – maybe breaking him out of his shell and getting him around others in a healthier way could help.
Fubuki sighed, releasing his hand from Endou’s. “I don’t think that’d… work. Sorry, Endou, that… doesn’t seem like a good idea.”
“Why not? What’s the worst that could happen, Shirou? Worst comes to worst, it doesn’t work, and we’ll think of something else! I don’t want you to associate soccer with pain. And I don’t want Atsuya to think soccer is all about winning and being the best, either.”
"I..." Fubuki frowned, looking away from Endou. "I really don't think this is going to help anyone, Endou."
"We might as well try, though!" Endou said with a bit too much determination. Truth be told, he wasn't quite sure this would help as well -- but it couldn't hurt to give it an effort. Worst comes to worst, it doesn't work and they try something else. But Endou wasn't going to keep seeing Fubuki suffer in silence. He was too good for that -- as a friend, and as a soccer player. Endou remembered seeing how much the Hakuren team enjoyed Fubuki's presence, the way Fubuki calmed the bear down with a soccer ball and a strong enough kick -- and he enjoyed his presence the same way. This was the least he could do for him.
Fubuki sighed. Something about this plan was bugging him more than he was going to tell Endou. Eventually though, he relented. "Alright, sure. Let's give it a shot."
"Really?" Endou grinned wide, his face pouring with excitement. "Awesome! Well, uh... I dunno how you bring Atsuya out but..."
He trailed off. Fubuki laughed, relieving Endou of having to finish his sentence. "I'll figure it out. Most of the time, it's kind of involuntary. But I suppose I can try to figure out how to, well, get him to come out by my own volition. I'll catch you when -- if -- I figure it out, alright, Endou?"
The more Fubuki talked about the plan, the more at ease he seemed. Or did he slowly become more nervous, and also grow more hesitant to show it? Endou couldn't really tell, but he supposed it wasn't that huge of a problem. "Alright, yeah! I'm going to get some more tire practice in, gotta practice that new hissatsu. Catch you later!"
Before Fubuki could say anything else, Endou ran off. Endou wasn't quite sure when Atsuya -- or just Shirou -- would show up. But somehow, he knew they'd meet him there. After all, it wasn't like Endou didn't spend all his free time getting hit by tires to practice goalkeeping techniques.
~~
It had been at least an hour since Fubuki and Endou talked. And Endou had been hit in the face with a car tire at least a dozen times. Endou couldn't lie -- he worried a little about his plan. Was it actually going to work out? Or would he just make things worse between the team and Atsuya? Between him and Atsuya? Between him and Shirou? Endou wasn't exactly the kind of kid to think things through. After all, most of his plans involved motivational speeches and playing soccer. Then again, those were both things that could probably help Atsuya.
At least, he hoped.
Endou tried once again. He was only going to stay there for a bit longer before giving up. His technique was getting better, he only needed to try a few more times.
He was so close -- he could feel it this time! He put his hands out as the tire came rushing back, about to crash into him. He was going to catch it, when--
"So you wanted to talk to me, huh, Captain?"
"Huh?" Endou blinked, whipping his head around. Just as he saw Fubuki -- no, Atsuya -- the tired slammed into him, sending him flying back. The tired readjusted back to the center as Endou helped himself up. Atsuya stood there, grinning down at Endou as if he had somehow triumphed over him.
"Oh, Atsuya!" Endou either ignored Atsuya's smug look or ignored it. "I'm so glad you came!"
Atsuya shrugged as if it were nothing. "Shirou said it was important. I can't really understand, though. Why would you want to talk to me? Isn't it more productive to do this during a match, or something?"
"Uh, well..." Endou looked down at the ground bashfully. Off to a bad start, he thought to himself. "W-well, I just thought that talking could help you a little more in the matches! Y'know, it's kinda hard when the, uh, switches?" That's what he thought they were called. Something like that. "They happen during the middle of the match, they're just a little jarring. It's hard to focus on the match when we're not sure when they're gonna happen, ya know?"
Atsuya seemed... disinterested. Like he didn't understand what Endou was saying, and didn't really care either. Absent-mindedly, Atsuya looked over to the worn-down tire. "What are you doing?" he asked with squinted eyes.
"Oh, that? That's my special training," Endou said triumphantly. "My grandfather has a lot of journals about his special techniques! And they use these tires. Uh, I guess I'm the only one who can read them, though."
"Really?" Atsuya choked on his laughter. "That's kind of hilarious, actually."
Endou laughed it off, trying not to acknowledge the fact he was being laughed at. Suddenly, he got a better idea. "Atsuya, why don't you try as well? It's really helped me be a better goalkeeper! And maybe you could work on your kick power a bit more!"
Atsuya raised an eyebrow. "I'm the perfect forward. Why would I need to practice?"
Endou grinned. "People can always improve their technique! Always! Even if they're perfect, you can always grow and become stronger!" Atsuya's face lit up. If there was one thing Atsuya liked, it was power.
"Sure, I'll give it a try," Atsuya agreed to it, shockingly. "Show me how it's done, Captain!"
"Alright!" Endou cheered. He threw the tire back, and got into the proper position. "First, you throw back the tire, and then you prepare yourself for it to come back..."
~~
Atsuya liked the training a surprising amount. He got as much into it as Endou did. Somehow, Endou felt like he got to know Atsuya much more through kicking and catching tires than he did getting to talk to him. They were practicing by themselves until the sun had long gone down. The moon shined above them, and Endou decided it was time to pack it in and go to sleep.
Only, one thing was wrong. He was starving. He figured it was fine to make a small snack -- at the very least, it'd mean he wouldn't have to tolerate Natsumi's burnt rice.
Endou walked over to the kitchen, careful not to make any noise. He figured it wasn't too late for a simple fried rice. He started prepping the rice cooker, throwing the bare minimum amount of rice needed for it as he began washing some vegetables. As he prepared the dish, he thought of the last few hours, the way he actually, legitimately, managed to reach Atsuya in a way that wasn't fueled by anger and power. All things considered, he was quite proud of himself. Atsuya was probably long gone by now, Shirou being back out in front. Endou figured that was okay -- Shirou did enough by letting Atsuya out for Endou's request. He did more than enough.
Except, he was wrong. Endou startled when he heard a familiar voice behind him. "You're still up? And it's not because you're playing soccer?" The cocky sneer in Atsuya's voice made Endou flinch. Though, at the very least, it sounded more affectionate teasing and less like outright bullying. Atsuya was used to committing the latter, after all.
"Yeah! Our training session was so good, that I completely forgot how hungry I was," he laughed it off. Then, he realized something. "I, uh, didn't think you'd still be out."
"Well, I am," Atsuya scoffed. "Didn't feel like going back quite yet. Why? Is that really a problem?"
"No! Not at all," Endou responded with a tinge of defensiveness. "I mean, I was the one who asked you to come out after all! I was just a little surprised." After a moment of awkward silence, Atsuya continuing to try to figure out Endou's modus operandi, Endou got a different idea. "Oh! Would you like some fried rice? I'm making some for myself anyways, but I'll probably have too much leftover."
Atsuya raised an eyebrow, walking on over. He looked at the vegetables Endou was chopping and the amount of rice in the rice cooker. "...you call these fried rice ingredients?"
Endou blinked. He looked down. Were his decisions really that awful to warrant Atsuya's scorn? "Uh, yeah? Natsumi taught me these are the best vegetables to use."
Then he realized, and slumped his shoulders. "Ah, yeah, I see what you mean, now."
Atsuya chuckled. The lightheartedness in his laughter wasn't something Endou was quite used to from Atsuya -- but it was more than a welcome surprise. "Of course you do. There are more in the fridge, aren't there?"
"Yeah, but..." Endou cocked his head. What did Atsuya know about cooking? All he knew was soccer, power, and winning. "You can... cook?"
"Of course," Atsuya responded as if it were a basic fact of life. "Shirou can't. One of us has to, y'know?"
Endou blinked. How much was there that he didn't know about Atsuya and Shirou? Obviously a lot. Endou didn't particularly know Atsuya too well before today. That being said, he was more than thrilled that Atsuya knew something like that -- did that mean he was trusting Endou?
"Wow, that's so cool!" Endou exclaimed. He realized how loud he was being and tried to lower his voice. "All I know about cooking is from my mom... and Natsumi. Mostly my mom though. Maybe you can teach me one or two things!"
Atsuya laughed again. Was he laughing with or at Endou? "What, you can learn things that aren't soccer techniques?"
Endou either ignored the insult or didn't notice it. "Well, yeah, of course! Maybe if you explain it in soccer terms, though, I can understand better."
That, both Atsuya and Endou laughed about. It was such a nice, lighthearted moment that neither of them wanted to let go of. Endou was having fun, but more importantly, Atsuya was opening uip. Endou's kindness, his enthusiasm, was getting past Atsuya's hard exterior -- at least, he sure hoped.
"Well, I could use a sous chef. Let's get this rice cooked, right?"
Endou nodded and began working with -- alongside -- Atsuya. And in a sense, alongside Shirou as well.
~~
Endou wasn't surprised when Fubuki decided to sleep in that day. He probably had a lot to think about, and a lot to talk about with Atsuya. Hopefully it was at least a good conversation. Soccer practice always started early in the mornings -- after all, they still had a lot of training to do -- and the team had slowly gotten used to it. Still, though, it was worth it. Most of the team had become accustomed to being morning players, and those who hadn't wouldn't complain too much about it.
Endou shouted out orders to the team, giving them encouragement and suggestions. The teamwork was coming together, and the plays were getting much better. He was sure -- things were falling into place. They could still beat Aliea Academy.
A snarky voice popped up, interrupting Endou's endless stream of positivity. "Up and at it early, huh, guys?"
Endou whipped around, as did everyone else, their plays coming to a halt. Fubuki was up, but... it was Atsuya? Still? Wasn't Shirou going to come back out after he and Endou were done hanging out?
"Uh, Captain?" Domon piped up, raising his hand bashfully. "Why... is Atsuya out? While he's not forwarding?"
Atsuya shot a death glare at the blue haired player. "Hey, I can be out at other times, too! Isn't that right, Captain?"
Endou stammered in silence. Sure, he did say it was okay for Atsuya to come out, but... if he was going to start picking fights with everyone, wouldn't that be a big problem? "Uh, well... we did hang out last night?"
"What?" Ichinose cried out. "Out of sympathy?"
"Hey!" Endou scolded, one of the few times he used his stern, protective voice. "Atsuya can be out if he wants to! After all, he's a member of this team too!"
Endou scurried over to Atsuya, holding a quieter conversation with him. "Don't listen to him, Atsuya. Once people get to know you, I'm sure they'll all like you as much as I do!"
"Hmm." The way Atsuya carelessly hummed out that response made Endou think he didn't really believe his captain. "I can be a forward as usual, right?"
"Uh... yeah, of course!" Without a second thought, Endou switched around the team formation. "Alright, everyone! Let's give it our best again, with Atsuya here!"
It did not go as planned. At all.
Atsuya was even less well adjusted than Endou thought, especially when he wasn’t just coming out as a forward. Endou somehow thought that he was helping Atsuya, but instead Atsuya just seemed more adamant about aggression and power and being better than everyone. He spent half the match lashing out at people, barking orders at them, hogging the ball for himself, and overall taking over the course of the practice match. For once in the past two days, Endou felt as though he had made a grave mistake. The team seemed slowly, increasingly more discouraged. Over the course of even 15 minutes, people seemed just willing to give into every one of Atsuya’s demands; after all, if they didn’t comply, Atsuya would yell at them or worse, attack them with the soccer ball.
Endou shouted at Atsuya over and over to go lighter on his teammates, that they were trying to win as much as he was. But nothing quite reached Atsuya. In fact, it seemed that Endou’s interventions were only making Atsuya angrier. As always, Coach Hitomiko stood there and silently watched – she clearly knew something, and didn’t wish to act. At one point, Touko came on over to Endou and quietly asked for Shirou to come back. Endou felt a tinge of pain in his heart. Did he really do such a terrible job helping Atsuya? Was he really that bad at helping people?
As if Atsuya confirmed his thoughts, Atsuya took Endou’s distraction as an opportunity to launch the soccer ball at him – not into the net, but at Endou specifically. Without a moment to react well, Endou was knocked back by the soccer ball into the side of the goal post. He shouted in pain, hissing as the searing sensation raged through his back.
“Captain!” the rest of the teammates shouted, crowding around Endou with concerned questions and looks on their faces.
“Are you okay?!” Kabeyama asked. “Are you hurt?”
“N-no, I’m fine,” Endou stammered out as he managed to stand up. After one shot, he was in no position to goalkeep anymore. Endou looked over at Atsuya, trying to hide the glare in his eyes. Why would Atsuya do such a thing? He knew Atsuya was more than fond of rough plays and powerful kicks, but that was just… too much.
“That was way too far, Atsuya!” Ichinose shouted, turning around to the cocky forward. “Why do you hurt people!? Endou was just trying to help you!”
Atsuya scoffed, not even gracing that question with a response.
“If Endou wanted to help you,” Touko started, her voice barely above a whisper. “Then he made a mistake! You can’t be helped if all you want to do is get more powerful and hurt people!”
“W-wait,” Endou choked out, managing to stand up straight. “Atsuya didn’t mean to! He just needs a bit more time, and—”
Endou looked towards Atsuya’s way. Except, Atsuya was finally not out. Instead stood Shirou, a horrified look on his face, more scared than the seemingly fearless player had ever been before. Shirou took a few steps back, before jolting off and running away.
“Wait, Fubuki!” Endou shouted, as he prepared to go after him.
“Endou!” Ichinose interjected. “Leave him alone, let him think about what he did.”
“No! I need to talk to him!” Endou refused to listen and pushed past his teammates, running to find Fubuki – to find Shirou. Fubuki was a fast runner, but Endou was quite speedy as well. The captain heard the sounds of his teammates calling out to him, begging to come back, but Endou didn’t listen. He needed to help Atsuya. He was sure Atsuya – and Shirou – could both be helped. He wanted to help Fubuki – both Shirou and Atsuya.
Eventually, he found Fubuki crumpled up into a ball, refusing to look at Endou.
“Fubuki,” Endou started.
“This was a bad idea, Endou,” Fubuki murmured. “I tried to tell you.”
“What are you talking about? I’m perfectly fine! Things like this take time, and I’m sure—”
“You don’t know anything!” Fubuki shouted, standing up to face Endou. “You don’t know Atsuya – only I do! And I knew he should have been kept away. He can’t be helped. It’s best if… if he comes out as few times as possible!”
Fubuki paused, looking at the confused and hurt look on Endou’s face. He realized that Shirou just went too far, as well. Endou didn’t mind as he wiped off the look on his face. “You’re right,” Endou started, walking up to Fubuki and putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know Atsuya. But I want to. Atsuya is more than just a team player! He’s my friend, too! And so are you.”
“Atsuya is your friend?” Shirou asked in bewilderment, raising his eyebrow. “How? Atsuya hurt you – he hurts people!”
“Well, yeah, that was pretty hard, and that did hurt a lot, but…” Endou bit his lip, trying to figure out what the heck to say in this situation. Fubuki crossed his arms, waiting for Endou to come up with any sort of explanation or reasoning. Endou turned around, looking to the sun for any semblance of hope. It was now high in the sky, giving Endou an idea of what to say. He got a huge smile on his face as he continued. “Atsuya is a part of you, too. And I want to get to know Fubuki! Not just Shirou, but all of Fubuki. And… I’m sure that if all of us – you, me, everyone on the team – works hard enough, we can figure something out!”
Fubuki paused, looking away from Endou’s eyes. “You really think that, Captain?”
“Of course! We’ll find something that works. And only when Atsuya wants. I’m sorry I pressured you, Fubuki. I don’t want to hurt you…”
Fubuki sighed, smiling and holding his hand to Endou’s shoulder in response. “I know, Endou. You want to help. Let’s figure this out together, right?”
Endou gave a toothy grin. “Right!”
“Actually…” Fubuki put a finger to his chin and thought. “Can I go off for a bit, Endou? I have something I want to do. On my own.”
“Huh? Oh, sure,” Endou blinked. He wondered what Fubuki could be up to, but he figured it was best to not intervene this time. Fubuki thanked Endou, then doing something that surprised him even more.
He… hugged Endou.
Fubuki was never known to be a particularly affectionate member of the team. His body was… cold, but Endou still felt warm as he returned the hug. They savored the moment for as long as they needed, before Fubuki released Endou from the hug and ran off. Endou stood there for a moment, realizing just how flushed his face was.
He liked Fubuki. He really did.
But now wasn’t the time for that. For now – he had to return to the team. Surely the team was still practicing, and hopefully they’d recovered by then. Endou ran as fast as he could, trying not to keep his team waiting and worrying any longer. Soon enough, his teammates were in view, still playing soccer.
Something else surprised him, though. Fubuki was there. No… it was Atsuya?
“Huh? Atsuya? You’re – you’re back already?”
“Yeah, of course!” Atsuya gave a grin, this one much more… different than usual. It seemed less cocky, more teasing and welcoming. “You ready to get back into it, Captain?”
“Uh, yeah, but…” He looked around. The team was surprisingly welcoming to Atsuya this time around, seeming to completely be over their earlier hurt and confusion. Atsuya was waiting for Endou, specifically – as was the rest of the team. Did they… finally welcome Atsuya as part of the team?
“Yeah, of course!” Endou wiped off his bewilderment with a grin, rushing over to the goal post. He walked by Atsuya, who stopped him for just a minute.
Atsuya inhaled. “I’m sorry I did that, Captain,” he murmured. “It won’t happen again.”
That sentence gave Endou pause even more. A happy pause, though. He was right. Atsuya could be helped – he was helping Atsuya. He was helping Shirou. And most of all – he was helping all of Fubuki.
Endou grinned at Atsuya, walked over to the goal post and got ready. “Alright, everyone!” He shouted. “Let’s play soccer!”